THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 


OF  CALIF.   LIBRARY,   LOS  ANGELES 


THE 
GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

BY 

E.  PHILLIPS  OPPENHEIM 


BOSTON 

LITTLE,  BROWN,  AND  COMPANY 
1922 


Copyright, 
BY  LITTLE,  BHOWN,  AND  COMPANY. 


All  rights  reserved 
Published  March, 


PRINTED  IN  THE  UKITED  STATES  OP  AMERICA 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

CHAPTER  I 

"  A  club  for  diplomats  and  gentlemen,"  Prince 
Karschoff  remarked,  looking  lazily  through  a  little 
cloud  of  tobacco  smoke  around  the  spacious  but  al 
most  deserted  card  room.  "  The  classification  seems 
comprehensive  enough,  yet  it  seems  impossible  to  get 
even  a  decent  rubber  of  bridge." 

Sir  Daniel  Harker,  a  many  years  retired  pleni 
potentiary  to  one  of  the  smaller  Powers,  shrugged 
his  shoulders. 

"  Personally,  I  have  come  to  the  conclusion,"  he 
declared,  "  that  the  raison  d'etre  for  the  club  seems 
to  be  passing.  There  is  no  diplomacy,  nowadays, 
and  every  man  who  pays  his  taxes  is  a  gentleman. 
Kingley,  you  are  the  youngest.  Ransack  the  club 
and  find  a  fourth." 

The  Honourable  Nigel  Kingley  smiled  lazily  from 
the  depths  of  his  easy-chair.  He  was  a  young  Eng 
lishman  of  normal  type,  long-limbed,  clean-shaven, 
with  good  features,  a  humorous  mouth  and  keen  grey 
eyes. 

"  In  actual  years,"  he  admitted,  "  I  may  have  the 


4  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

advantage  of  you  two,  but  so  far  as  regards  the 
qualities  of  youth,  Karschoff  is  the  youngest  man 
here.  Besides,  no  one  could  refuse  him  anything." 

"  It  is  a  subterfuge,"  the  Prince  objected,  "  but  if 
I  must  go,  I  will  go  presently.  We  will  wait  five 
minutes,  in  case  Providence  should  be  kind  to  us." 

The  three  men  relapsed  into  silence.  They  were 
seated  in  a  comfortable  recess  of  the  card  room  of 
the  St.  Philip's  Club.  The  atmosphere  of  the  apart 
ment  seemed  redolent  with  suggestions  of  faded  splen 
dour.  There  was  a  faint  perfume  of  Russian  calf 
from  the  many  rows  of  musty  volumes  which  still 
filled  the  stately  bookcases.  The  oil  paintings  which 
hung  upon  the  walls  belonged  to  a  remote  period. 
In  a  distant  corner,  four  other  men  were  playing 
bridge,  speechless  and  almost  motionless,  the  white 
faces  of  two  of  them  like  cameos  under  the  electric 
light  and  against  the  dark  walls.  There  was  no 
sound  except  the  soft  patter  of  the  cards  and  the 
subdued  movements  of  a  servant  preparing  another 
bridge  table  by  the  side  of  the  three  men.  Then 
the  door  of  the  room  was  quietly  opened  and  closed. 
A  man  of  youthful  middle-age,  carefully  dressed, 
with  a  large,  clean-shaven  face,  blue  eyes,  and  fair 
hair  sprinkled  with  grey,  came  towards  them.  Pic 
was  well  set  up,  almost  anxiously  ingratiating  in 
manner. 

"  You  see  now  what  Providence  has  sent,"  Sir 
Daniel  Harker  observed  under  his  breath. 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  5 

"  It  is  enough  to  make  an  atheist  of  one,  this !  "  the 
Prince  muttered. 

"  Any  bridge?  "  the  newcomer  enquired,  seating 
himself  at  the  table  and  shuffling  one  of  the  packs 
of  cards. 

The  three  men  rose  to  their  feet  with  varying  de 
grees  of  unwillingness. 

"  Immelan  is  too  good  for  us,"  Sir  Daniel 
grumbled.  "  He  always  wins." 

"  I  am  lucky,"  the  newcomer  admitted,  "  but  I 
may  be  your  partner;  in  which  case,  you  too  will 
win." 

"  If  you  are  my  partner,"  the  Prince  declared, 
"  I  shall  play  for  five  pounds  a  hundred.  I  desire 
to  gamble.  London  is  beginning  to  weary  me." 

"  Mr.  Kingley  is  a  better  player,  though  not  so 
lucky,"  Immelan  acknowledged,  with  a  little  bow. 

"  Never  believe  it,  with  all  due  respect  to  our 
young  friend  here,"  Sir  Daniel  replied,  as  he  cut  a 
card.  "  Kingley  plays  like  a  man  with  brain  but 
without  subtlety.  In  a  duel  between  you  two,  I 
would  back  Immelan  every  time." 

Kingley  took  his  place  at  the  table  with  a  little 
gesture  of  resignation.  He  looked  across  the  table 
to  where  Immelan  sat  displaying  the  card  which 
he  had  just  cut.  The  eyes  of  the  two  men  met.  A 
few  seconds  of  somewhat  significant  silence  followed. 
Then  Immelan  gathered  up  the  cards. 


6  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

"  I  have  the  utmost  respect  for  Mr.  Kingley  as  an 
adversary,"  he  said. 

The  latter  bowed  a  little  ironically. 

"  May  you  always  preserve  that  sentiment !  To 
day,  chance  seems  to  have  made  us  partners.  Your 
deal,  Mr.  Immelan." 

"  What  stakes  ?  "  the  Prince  enquired,  settling 
himself  down  in  his  chair. 

"  They  are  for  you  to  name,"  Immelan  declared. 

The  Prince  laughed  shortly. 

"  I  believe  you  are  as  great  a  gambler  at  heart 
as  I  am,"  he  observed. 

"  With  Mr.  Kingley  for  my  partner,  and  the 
game  one  of  skill,"  was  the  courteous  reply,  "  I  do 
not  need  to  limit  my  stakes." 

A  servant  crossed  the  room,  bringing  a  note  upon 
a  tray.  He  presented  it  to  Kingley,  who  opened 
and  read  it  through  without  change  of  countenance. 
When  he  had  finished  it,  however,  he  laid  his  cards 
face  downwards  upon  the  table. 

"  Gentlemen,"  he  said,  "  I  owe  you  my  most  pro 
found  apologies.  I  am  called  away  at  once  on  a 
matter  of  urgent  business." 

"  But  this  is  most  annoying,"  the  Prince  declared 
irritably. 

"  Here  comes  my  saviour,"  Kingley  remarked,  as 
another  man  entered  the  card  room.  "  Henderson 
will  take  my  place.  Glad  I  haven't  to  break  you  up, 
after  all.  Henderson,  will  you  play  a  rubber?  " 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  7 

The  newcomer  assented.  Nigel  Kingley  made  his 
adieux  and  crossed  the  room.  Immelan  watched  him 
curiously. 

"  What  is  our  friend  Kingley's  profession  ?  "  he 
enquired. 

"  He  has  no  profession,"  Sir  Daniel  replied.  "  He 
has  never  come  into  touch  with  the  sordid  needs 
of  these  money-grubbing  days.  He  is  the  nephew 
and  heir  of  the  Earl  of  Dorminster." 

Immelan  looked  away  from  the  retreating  figure. 

"  Lord  Dorminster,"  he  murmured.  "  The  same 
Lord  Dorminster  who  was  in  the  Government  many 
years  ago  ?  " 

"  He  was  Foreign  Secretary  when  I  was  Governor 
of  Jamaica,"  Sir  Daniel  answered.  "  A  very  bril 
liant  man  he  was  in  those  days." 

Immelan  nodded  thoughtfully. 

"  I  remember,"  he  said. 

Nigel  Kingley,  on  leaving  the  St.  Philip's  Club, 
was  driven  at  once,  in  the  automobile  which  he  found 
awaiting  him,  to  a  large  corner  house  in  Belgrave 
Square,  which  he  entered  with  the  air  of  an  habitue. 
The  waiting  major-domo  took  him  at  once  in  charge 
and  piloted  him  across  the  hall. 

"  His  lordship  is  very  much  occupied,  Mr.  Nigel," 
he  announced.  "  He  is  not  seeing  any  other  callers. 
He  left  word,  however,  that  you  were  to  be  shown 
in  the  moment  you  arrived." 

"  His  lordship  is  quite  well,  I  hope?  " 


8  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

"  Well  in  health,  sir,  but  worried,  and  I  don't 
wonder  at  it,"  the  man  replied,  speaking  with  the 
respectful  freedom  of  an  old  servant.  "  I  never 
thought  I'd  live  to  see  such  times  as  these." 

A  man  in  the  early  sixties,  still  good-looking,  not 
withstanding  a  somewhat  worn  expression,  looked 
up  from  his  seat  at  the  library  table  on  Kingley's 
entrance.  He  nodded,  but  waited  until  the  door 
was  closed  behind  the  retreating  servant  before  he 
spoke. 

"  Good  of  you  to  come,  Nigel,"  he  said.  "  Bring 
your  chair  up  here." 

"  Bad  news?  "  the  newcomer  enquired. 

"Damnable!" 

There  was  a  brief  silence,  during  which  Nigel, 
knowing  his  uncle's  humours,  leaned  back  in  his 
chair  and  waited.  Upon  the  table  was  a  little  pile 
of  closely  written  manuscript,  and  by  their  side 
several  black-bound  code  books,  upon  which  the 
"  F.O. Private  "  still  remained,  though  almost  oblit 
erated  with  time.  Lord  Dorminster's  occupation 
was  apparent.  He  was  decoding  a  message  of  un 
usual  length.  Presently  he  turned  away  from  the 
table,  however,  and  faced  his  nephew.  His  hands 
travelled  to  his  waistcoat  pocket.  He  drew  out  a 
cigarette  from  a  thin  gold  case,  lit  it  and  began 
to  smoke.  Then  he  crossed  his  legs  and  leaned  a 
little  farther  back  in  his  chair. 

"  Nigel,"  he  said,  "  we  are  living  in  strange  times." 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  9 

"  No  one  denies  that,  sir,"  was  the  grave  assent. 

Lord  Dorminster  glanced  at  the  calendar  which 
stood  upon  the  desk. 

"  To-day,"  he  continued,  "  is  the  twenty-third 
day  of  March,  nineteen  hundred  and  thirty-four. 
Fifteen  years  ago  that  terrible  Peace  Treaty  was 
signed.  Since  then  you  know  what  the  history  of 
our  country  has  been.  I  am  not  blowing  my  own 
trumpet  when  I  say  that  nearly  every  man  with  true 
political  insight  has  been  cast  adrift.  At  the  pres 
ent  moment  the  country  is  in  the  hands  of  a  body 
of  highly  respectable  and  well-meaning  men  who, 
as  a  parish  council,  might  conduct  the  affairs  of 
Dorminster  Town  with  unqualified  success.  As 
statesmen  they  do  not  exist.  It  seems  to  me,  Nigel, 
that  you  and  I  are  going  to  see  in  reality  that 
spectre  which  terrified  the  world  twenty  years  ago. 
We  are  going  to  see  the  breaking  up  of  a  mighty 
empire." 

"  Tell  me  what  has  happened  or  is  going  to  hap 
pen,"  Nigel  begged. 

"  Well,  for  one  thing,"  his  uncle  replied,  "  the 
Emperor  of  the  East  is  preparing  for  a  visit  to 
Europe.  He  will  be  here  probably  next  month.  You 
know  whom  I  mean,  of  course?  " 

"  Prince  Shan !  "  Nigel  exclaimed. 

"  Prince  Shan  of  China,"  Lord  Dorminster  as 
sented.  "  His  coming  links  up  many  things  which 
had  been  puzzling  me.  I  tell  you,  Nigel,  what  hap- 


io  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

pens  during  Prince  Shan's  visit  will  probably  decide 
the  destinies  of  this  country,  and  yet  I  wouldn't 
mind  betting  you  a  thousand  to  one  that  there  isn't 
a  single  official  of  the  Government  who  has  the 
slightest  idea  as  to  why  he  is  coming,  or  that  he  is 
coming  at  all." 

"  Do  you  know  ?  "  Nigel  asked. 

"  I  can  only  surmise.  Let  us  leave  Prince  Shan 
for  the  moment,  Nigel.  Now  listen.  You  go  about 
a  great  deal.  What  do  people  say  about  me  — 
honestly,  I  mean?  Speak  with  your  face  to  the 
light." 

"  They  call  you  a  faddist  and  a  scaremonger," 
Nigel  confessed,  "  yet  there  are  one  or  two,  especially 
at  the  St.  Philip's  Club,  diplomatists  and  ambassa 
dors  whose  place  in  the  world  has  passed  away,  who 
think  and  believe  differently.  You  know,  sir,  that 
I  am  amongst  them." 

Lord  Dorminster  nodded  kindly. 

"  Well,"  he  said,  "  I  fancy  I  am  about  to  prove 
myself.  Seven  years  ago,  it  was,"  he  went  on 
reminiscently,  "  when  the  new  National  Party  came 
into  supreme  power.  You  know  one  of  their  first 
battle  cries  — '  Down  with  all  secret  treaties ! 
Down  with  all  secret  diplomacy !  Let  nothing  exist 
but  an  honest  commercial  understanding  between  the 
different  countries  of  the  world !  *  How  Germany  and 
Russia  howled  with  joy!  In  place  of  an  English 
statesman  with  his  country's  broad  interests  at 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  n 

heart,  we  have  in  Berlin  and  Petrograd  half  a  dozen 
representatives  of  the  great  industries,  whose  object, 
in  their  own  words,  is,  I  believe,  to  develop  friendly 
commercialism  and  a  feeling  of  brotherhood  between 
the  nations.  Not  only  our  ambassadors  but  our 
secret  service  were  swept  clean  out  of  existence.  I 
remember  going  to  Broadley,  the  day  he  was  ap 
pointed  Foreign  Minister,  and  I  asked  him  a  simple 
question.  I  asked  him  whether  he  did  not  consider 
it  his  duty  to  keep  his  finger  upon  the  pulses  of  the 
other  great  nations,  however  friendly  they  might 
seem,  to  keep  himself  assured  that  all  these  expres 
sions  of  good  will  were  honourable,  and  that  in  the 
heart  of  the  German  nation  that  great  craving  for 
revenge  which  is  the  natural  heritage  of  the  present 
generation  had  really  become  dissipated.  Broadley 
smiled  at  me.  *  Lord  Dorminster,'  he  said,  '  the  chief 
cause  of  wars  in  the  past  has  been  suspicion.  We 
look  upon  espionage  as  a  disgraceful  practice.  It 
is  the  people  of  Germany  with  whom  we  are  in 
touch  now,  not  a  military  oligarchy,  and  the  people 
of  Germany  no  more  desire  war  than  we  do.  Besides, 
there  is  the  League  of  Nations.'  Those  were 
Broadley's  views  then,  and  they  are  his  views  to-day. 
You  know  what  I  did?  " 

Nigel  assented  cautiously. 

"  I  suppose  it  is  an  open  secret  amongst  a  few 
of  us,"  he  observed.  "  You  have  been  running  an 
unofficial  secret  service  of  your  own." 


12  THE  GREAT  PRINCE,  SHAN 

"  Precisely !  I  have  had  a  few  agents  at  work 
for  over  a  year,  and  when  I  have  finished  decoding 
this  last  dispatch,  I  shall  have  evidence  which  will 
prove  beyond  a  doubt  that  we  are  on  the  threshold 
of  terrible  events.  The  worst  of  it  is  —  well,  we 
have  been  found  out." 

"  What  do  you  mean  ?  "  Nigel  asked  quickly. 

His  uncle's  sensitive  lips  quivered. 

"  You  knew  Sidwell?  " 

"  Quite  well." 

"  Sidwell  was  found  stabbed  to  the  heart  in  a  cafe 
in  Petrograd,  three  weeks  ago,"  Lord  Dorminster 
announced.  "  An  official  report  of  the  enquiry  into 
his  death  informs  his  relatives  that  his  death  was  due 
to  a  quarrel  with  some  Russian  sailors  over  one 
of  the  women  of  the  quarter  where  he  was  found." 

"  Horrible !  "  Nigel  muttered. 

"  Sidwell  was  one  of  those  unnatural  people,  as 
you  know,"  Lord  Dorminster  went  on,  "  who  never 
touched  wine  or  spirits  and  who  hated  women.  To 
continue.  Atcheson  was  a  friend  of  yours,  wasn't 
he?" 

"  Of  course!  He  was  at  Eton  with  me.  It  was  I 
who  first  brought  him  here  to  dine.  Don't  tell  me 
that  anything  has  happened  to  Jim  Atcheson !  " 

"  This  dispatch  is  from  him,"  Lord  Dorminster 
replied,  indicating  the  pile  of  manuscript  upon  the 
table,  —  "  a  dispatch  which  came  into  my  hands  in 
a  most  marvellous  fashion.  He  died  last  week  in  a 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN     13 

nursing  home  in  —  well,  let  us  say  a  foreign  capital. 
The  professor  in  charge  of  the  hospital  sends  a  long 
report  as  to  the  unhappy  disease  from  which  he 
suffered.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  he  was  poisoned." 

Nigel  Kingley  had  been  a  soldier  in  his  youth  and 
he  was  a  brave  man.  Nevertheless,  the  horror  of 
these  things  struck  a  cold  chill  to  his  heart.  He 
seemed  suddenly  to  be  looking  into  the  faces  of 
spectres,  to  hear  the  birth  of  the  winds  of  destruc 
tion. 

"  That  is  all  I  have  to  say  to  you  for  the  moment," 
his  uncle  concluded  gravely.  "  In  an  hour  I  shall 
have  finished  decoding  this  dispatch,  and  I  propose 
then  to  take  you  into  my  entire  confidence.  In  the 
meantime,  I  want  you  to  go  and  talk  for  a  few 
minutes  to  the  cleverest  woman  in  England,  the 
woman  who,  in  the  face  of  a  whole  army  of  police 
men  and  detectives,  crossed  the  North  Sea  yesterday 
afternoon  with  this  in  her  pocket.** 

"  You  don't  mean  Maggie  ?  "  Nigel  exclaimed 
eagerly. 

His  uncle  nodded. 

"  You  will  find  her  in  the  boudoir,"  he  said.  "  I 
told  her  that  you  were  coming.  In  an  hour's  time, 
return  here." 

Lord  Dorminster  rose  to  his  feet  as  his  nephew 
turned  to  depart.  He  laid  his  hand  upon  the  lat- 
ter's  shoulder,  and  Nigel  always  remembered  the 
grave  kindliness  of  his  tone  and  expression. 


i4  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

"  Nigel,"  he  sighed,  "  I  am  afraid  I  shall  be  put 
ting  upon  your  shoulders  a  terrible  burden,  but  there 
is  no  one  else  to  whom  I  can  turn." 

"  There  is  no  one  else  to  whom  you  ought  to  turn, 
sir,"  the  young  man  replied  simply.  "  I  shall  be 
back  in  an  hour." 


CHAPTER  II 

Lady  Maggie  Trent,  a  stepdaughter  of  the  Earl 
of  Dorminster,  was  one  of  those  young  women  who 
had  baffled  description  for  some  years  before  she 
had  commenced  to  take  life  seriously.  She  was 
neither  fair  nor  dark,  petite  nor  tall.  No  one  could 
ever  have  called  her  nondescript,  or  have  extolled 
any  particular  grace  of  form  or  feature.  Her  com 
plexion  had  defied  the  ravages  of  sun  and  wind  and 
that  moderate  indulgence  in  cigarettes  and  cocktails 
which  the  youth  of  her  day  affected.  Her  nose  was 
inclined  to  be  retrousse,  her  mouth  tender  but  impu 
dent,  her  grey  eyes  mostly  veiled  in  expression  but 
capable  of  wonderful  changes.  She  was  curled  up 
in  a  chair  when  Nigel  entered,  immersed  in  a  fashion 
paper.  She  held  out  her  left  hand,  which  he  raised 
to  his  lips. 

"  Well,  Nigel,  dear,"  she  exclaimed,  "  what  do  you 
think  of  my  new  profession  ?  " 

"  I  hate  it,"  he  answered  frankly. 

She  sighed  and  laid  down  the  fashion  paper  re 
signedly. 

"  You  always  did  obj  ect  to  a  woman  doing  any 
thing  in  the  least  useful.  Do  you  realise  that  if 


16  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

anything  in  the  world  can  save  this  stupid  old  coun 
try,  I  have  done  it?  " 

•     "  I  realise  that  you've  been  running  hideous  risks," 
he  replied. 

She  looked  at  him  petulantly. 

"  What  of  it  ?  "  she  demanded.  "  We  all  run  risks 
when  we  do  anything  worth  while." 

"  Not  quite  the  sort  that  you  have  been  facing." 

She  smiled  thoughtfully. 

"  Do  you  know  exactly  where  I  have  been  ?  "  she 
asked. 

"  No  idea,"  he  confessed.  "  What  my  uncle  has 
just  told  me  was  a  complete  revelation,  so  far  as  I 
was  concerned.  I  believed,  with  the  rest  of  the  world, 
what  the  newspapers  announced  —  that  you  were 
visiting  Japan  and  China,  and  afterwards  the  South 
Sea  Islands,  with  the  Wendercombes." 

She  smiled. 

"  Dad  wanted  to  tell  you,"  she  said,  "  but  it  was 
I  who  made  him  promise  not  to.  I  was  afraid  you 
would  be  disagreeable  about  it.  We  arranged  it  all 
with  the  Wendercombes,  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  I 
did  not  even  start  with  them.  For  the  last  eight 
months,  I  have  been  living  part  of  the  time  in  Berlin 
and  part  of  the  time  in  a  country  house  near  the 
Black  Forest." 

"  Alone?  " 

"  Not  a  bit  of  it !  I  have  been  governess  to  the 
two  daughters  of  Herr  Essendorf ." 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  17 

"  Essendorf,  the  President  of  the  German  Re 
public?  " 

Lady  Maggie  nodded. 

"  He  isn't  a  bit  like  his  pictures.  He  is  a  huge 
fat  man  and  he  eats  a  great  deal  too  much.  Oh,  the 
horror  of  those  meals !  "  she  added,  with  a  little 
shudder.  "  Think  of  me,  dear  Nigel,  who  never 
eat  more  than  an  omelette  and  some  fruit  for 
luncheon,  compelled  to  sit  down  every  day  to  a 
mittagessen!  I  wonder  I  have  any  digestion  left  at 
all." 

"  Do  you  mean  that  you  were  there  under  your 
own  name?  "  he  asked  incredulously. 

She  shook  her  head. 

"  I  secured  some  perfectly  good  testimonials  be 
fore  I  left,"  she  said.  "  They  referred  to  a  Miss 
Brown,  the  daughter  of  Prebendary  Brown.  I  was 
Miss  Brown." 

"  Great  Heavens ! "  Nigel  muttered  under  his 
breath.  "  You  heard  about  Atcheson  ?  " 

She  nodded. 

"  Poor  fellow,  they  got  him  all  right.  You  talk 
about  thrills,  Nigel,"  she  went  on.  "  Do  you  know 
that  the  last  night  before  I  left  for  my  vacation,  I 
actually  heard  that  fat  old  Essendorf  chuckling 
with  his  wife  about  how  his  clever  police  had  laid 
an  English  spy  by  the  heels,  and  telling  her,  also, 
of  the  papers  which  they  had  discovered  and  handed 
over.  All  the  time  the  real  dispatch,  written  by 


i8  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

Atcheson  when  he  was  dying,  was  sewn  into  my  cor 
sets.  How's  that  for  an  exciting  situation?  " 

"  It's  a  man's  job,  anyhow,"  Nigel  declared. 

She  shrugged  her  shoulders  and  abandoned  the 
personal  side  of  the  subject. 

"  Have  you  been  in  Germany  lately,  Nigel?  "  she 
enquired. 

"  Not  for  many  years,"  he  answered. 

She  stretched  herself  out  upon  the  couch  and  lit 
a  cigarette. 

"  The  Germany  of  before  the  war  of  course  I  can't 
remember,"  she  said  pensively.  "  I  imagine,  how 
ever,  that  there  was  a  sort  of  instinctive  jealous 
dislike  towards  England  and  everything  English, 
simply  because  England  had  had  a  long  start  in 
colonisation,  commerce  and  all  the  rest  of  it.  But 
the  feeling  in  Germany  now,  although  it  is  mar 
vellously  hidden,  is  something  perfectly  amazing. 
It  absolutely  vibrates  wherever  you  go.  The  silence 
makes  it  all  the  more  menacing.  Soon  after  I  got 
to  Berlin,  I  bought  a  copy  of  the  Treaty  of  Peace 
and  read  it.  Nigel,  was  it  necessary  to  have  been 
so  bitterly  cruel  to  a  beaten  enemy?  " 

"  Logically  it  would  seem  not,"  Nigel  admitted. 
"  Actually,  we  cannot  put  ourselves  back  into  the 
spirit  of  those  days.  You  must  remember  that  it 
was  an  unprovoked  war,  a  war  engineered  by  Ger 
many  for  the  sheer  purposes  of  aggression.  That  is 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN     19 

why  a  punitive  spirit  entered  into  our  subsequent 
negotiations." 

She  nodded. 

"  I  expect  history  will  tell  us  some  day,"  she  con 
tinued,  "  that  we  needed  a  great  statesman  of  the 
Beaconsfield  type  at  the  Peace  table.  However, 
that  is  all  ended.  They  sowed  the  seed  at  Versailles, 
and  I  think  we  are  going  to  reap  the  harvest." 

"  After  all,"  Nigel  observed  thoughtfully,  "  it  is 
very  difficult  to  see  what  practical  interference  there 
could  be  with  the  peace  of  the  world.  I  can  very 
well  believe  that  the  spirit  is  there,  but  when  it 
comes  to  hard  facts  —  well,  what  can  they  do  ? 
England  can  never  be  invaded.  The  war  of  1914 
proved  that.  Besides,  Germany  now  has  a  repre 
sentative  on  the  League  of  Nations.  She  is  bound 
to  toe  the  line  with  the  rest." 

"  It  is  not  in  Germany  alone  that  we  are  disliked," 
Maggie  reminded  him.  "  We  seem  somehow  or  other 
to  have  found  our  way  into  the  bad  books  of  every 
country  in  Europe.  Clumsy  statesmanship  is  it,  or 
what?  " 

"I  should  attribute  it,"  Nigel  replied,  "to  the 
passing  of  our  old  school  of  ambassadors.  After 
all,  ambassadors  are  born,  not  made,  and  they  should 
be  —  they  very  often  were  —  men  of  rare  tact  and 
perceptions.  We  have  no  one  now  to  inform  us  of 
the  prejudices  and  humours  of  the  nations.  We 
often  offend  quite  unwittingly,  and  we  miss  many 


20  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

opportunities  of  a  rapprocJwment .  It  is  trade, 
trade,  trade  and  nothing  else,  the  whole  of  the  time, 
and  the  men  whom  we  sent  to  the  different  Courts 
to  further  our  commercial  interests  are  not  the  type 
to  keep  us  informed  of  the  more  subtle  and  intricate 
matters  which  sometimes  need  adjustment  between 
two  countries." 

"  That  may  be  the  explanation  of  all  the  bad  feel 
ing,"  Maggie  admitted,  "  and  you  may  be  right  when 
you  say  that  any  practical  move  against  us  is  almost 
impossible.  Dad  doesn't  think  so,  you  know.  He  is 
terribly  exercised  about  the  coming  of  Prince  Shan." 

"  I  must  get  him  to  talk  to  me,"  Nigel  said.  "  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  I  don't  think  that  we  need  fear 
Asiatic  intervention  over  here.  Prince  Shan  is  too 
great  a  diplomatist  to  risk  his  country's  new  pros 
perity." 

"  Prince  Shan,"  Maggie  declared,  "  is  the  one 
man  in  the  world  I  am  longing  to  meet.  He  was 
at  Oxford  with  you,  wasn't  he,  Nigel  ?  " 

"  For  one  year  only.  He  went  from  there  to 
Harvard." 

"  Tell  me  what  he  was  like,"  she  begged. 

"  I  have  only  a  hazy  recollection  of  him,"  Nigel 
confessed.  "  He  was  a  most  brilliant  scholar  and  a 
fine  horseman.  I  can't  remember  whether  he  did 
anything  at  games." 

"  Good-looking?  " 

"  Extraordinarily    so.     He    was    very    reserved, 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN     21 

though,  and  even  in  those  days  he  was  far  more 
exclusive  than  our  own  royal  princes.  We  all 
thought  him  clever,  but  no  one  dreamed  that  he 
would  become  Asia's  great  man.  I'll  tell  you  all  that 
I  can  remember  about  him  another  time,  Maggie. 
I'm  rather  curious  about  that  report  of  Atcheson's. 
Have  you  any  idea  what  it  is  about  ?  " 

She  shook  her  head. 

"  None  at  all.  It  is  in  the  old  Foreign  Office 
cipher  and  it  looks  like  gibberish.  I  only  know  that 
the  first  few  lines  he  transcribed  gave  dad  the  jumps." 

"  I  wonder  if  he  has  finished  it  by  now." 

"  He'll  send  for  you  when  he  has.  How  do  you 
think  I  am  looking,  Nigel?  " 

"  Wonderful,"  he  answered,  rising  to  his  feet  and 
standing  with  his  elbow  upon  the  mantelpiece,  gaz 
ing  down  at  her.  "  But  then  you  are  wonderful, 
aren't  you,  Maggie?  You  know  I  always  thought 
so." 

She  picked  up  a  mirror  from  the  little  bag  by 
her  side  and  scrutinized  her  features. 

"  It  can't  be  my  face,"  she  decided,  turning 
towards  him  with  a  smile.  "  I  must  have  charm." 

"  Your  face  is  adorable,"  he  declared. 

"  Are  you  going  to  flirt  with  me?  "  she  asked, 
with  a  faint  smile  at  the  corners  of  her  lips.  "  You 
always  do  it  so  well  and  so  convincingly.  And  I 
hate  foreigners.  They  are  terribly  in  earnest  but 


22  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

there  is  no  finesse  about  them.  You  may  kiss  me 
just  once,  please,  Nigel,  the  way  I  like." 

He  held  her  for  a  moment  in  his  arms,  tenderly, 
but  with  a  reserve  to  which  she  was  accustomed  from 
him.  Presently  she  thrust  him  away.  Her  own 
colour  had  risen  a  little. 

"Delightful,"  she  murmured.  "Think  of  the 
wasted  months !  No  one  has  kissed  me,  Nigel,  since 
we  said  good-bye." 

"  Have  you  made  up  your  mind  to  marry  me 
yet  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  My  dear,"  she  answered,  patting  his  hand,  "  do 
restrain  your  ardour.  Do  you  really  want  to  marry 
me?" 

"Of  course  I  do!" 

"  You  don't  love  me." 

"  I  am  awfully  fond  of  you,"  he  assured  her,  "  and 
I  don't  love  any  one  else." 

She  shook  her  head. 

"  It  isn't  enough,  Nigel,"  she  declared,  "  and, 
strange  to  say,  it's  exactly  how  I  feel  about  you." 

"  I  don't  see  why  it  shouldn't  be  enough,"  he 
argued.  "  Perhaps  we  have  too  much  common  sense 
for  these  violent  feelings." 

"  It  may  be  that,"  she  admitted  doubtfully. 
"  On  the  other  hand,  don't  let's  run  any  risk.  I 
should  hate  to  find  an  affinity,  and  all  that  sort  of 
thing,  after  marriage  —  divorce  in  these  days  is  such 
shocking  bad  form.  Besides,  honestly,  Nigel,  I  don't 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN     23 

feel  frivolous  enough  to  think  about  marriage  just 
now.  I  have  the  feeling  that  even  while  the  clock 
is  ticking  we  are  moving  on  to  terrible  things.  I 
can't  tell  you  quite  what  it  is.  I  carried  my  life 
in  my  hands  during  those  last  few  days  abroad.  I 
dare  say  this  is  the  reaction.*' 

He  smiled  reassuringly. 

"  After  all,  you  are  safe  at  home  now,  dear,"  he 
reminded  her,  "  and  I  really  am  very  fond  of  you, 
Maggie." 

"  And  I'm  quite  absurdly  fond  of  you,  Nigel,"  she 
acknowledged.  "  It  makes  me  feel  quite  uncomfort 
able  when  I  reflect  that  I  shall  probably  have  to 
order  you  to  make  love  to  some  one  else  before  the 
week  is  out." 

"  I  shall  do  nothing  of  the  sort,"  he  declared 
firmly.  "  I  am  not  good  at  that  sort  of  thing.  And 
who  is  she,  anyhow?  " 

They  were  interrupted  by  a  sudden  knock  at  the 
door  —  not  the  discreet  tap  of  a  well-bred  domestic, 
but  a  flurried,  almost  an  imperative  summons.  Be 
fore  either  of  them  could  reply,  the  door  was  opened 
and  Brookes,  the  elderly  butler,  presented  himself 
upon  the  threshold.  Even  before  he  spoke,  it  was 
clear  that  he  brought  alarming  news. 

"  Will  you  step  down  to  the  library  at  once,  sir?  " 
he  begged,  addressing  Nigel. 

"  What  is  the  matter,  Brookes  ? "  Maggie  de 
manded  anxiously. 


24 

"  I  fear  that  his  lordship  is  not  well,"  the  man 
replied. 

They  all  hurried  out  together.  Brookes  was  evi 
dently  terribly  perturbed  and  went  on  talking-  half 
to  himself  without  heeding  their  questions. 

"  I  thought  at  first  that  his  lordship  must  have 
fainted,"  he  said.  "  I  heard  a  queer  noise,  and  when 
I  went  in,  he  had  fallen  forward  across  the  table. 
Parkins  has  rung  for  Doctor  Wilcox." 

"  What  sort  of  a  noise  ?  "  Nigel  asked. 

"  It  sounded  like  a  shot,"  the  man  faltered. 

They  entered  the  library,  Nigel  leading  the  way. 
Lord  Dorminster  was  lying  very  much  as  Brookes 
had  described  him,  but  there  was  something  alto 
gether  unnatural  in  the  collapse  of  his  head  and 
shoulders  and  his  motionless  body.  Nigel  spoke  to 
him,  touched  him  gently,  raised  him  at  last  into  a 
sitting  position.  Something  on  which  his  right  hand 
seemed  to  have  been  resting  clattered  on  to  the 
carpet.  Nigel  turned  around  and  waved  Maggie 
back. 

"  Don't  come,"  he  begged. 

"Is  it  a  stroke?"  she  faltered. 

"  I  am  afraid  that  he  is  dead,"  Nigel  answered 
simply. 

They  went  out  into  the  hall  and  waited  there  in 
shocked  silence  until  the  doctor  arrived.  The  lat- 
ter's  examination  lasted  only  a  few  seconds.  Then 
he  pointed  to  the  telephone. 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  25 

"  This  is  very  terrible,"  he  said.  "  I  am  afraid 
you  had  better  ring  up  Scotland  Yard,  Mr.  Kingley. 
Lord  Dorminster  appears  either  to  have  shot  him 
self,  as  seems  most  probable,'*  he  added,  glancing 
at  the  revolver  upon  the  carpet,  "  or  to  have  been 
murdered." 

"  It  is  incredible !  "  Nigel  exclaimed.  "  He  was 
the  sanest  possible  man,  and  the  happiest,  and  he 
hadn't  an  enemy  in  the  world." 

The  physician  pointed  downwards  to  the  revolver. 
Then  he  unfastened  once  more  the  dead  man's  waist 
coat,  opened  his  shirt  and  indicated  a  small  blue 
mark  just  over  his  heart. 

"  That  is  how  he  died,"  he  said.  "  It  must  have 
been  instantaneous." 

Time  seemed  to  beat  out  its  course  in  leaden 
seconds  whilst  they  waited  for  the  superintendent 
from  Scotland  Yard.  Nigel  at  first  stood  still  for 
some  moments.  From  outside  came  the  cheerful  but 
muffled  roar  of  the  London  streets,  the  hooting  of 
motor  horns,  the  rumbling  of  wheels,  the  measured 
footfall  of  the  passing  multitude.  A  boy  went  by, 
whistling ;  another  passed,  calling  hoarsely  the  news 
fiom  the  afternoon  papers.  A  muffin  man  rang  his 
bell,  a  small  boy  clattered  his  stick  against  the  area 
railing.  The  whole  world  marched  on,  unmoved 
and  unnoticing.  In  this  sombre  apartment  alone 
tragedy  reigned  in  sinister  silence.  On  the  sofa, 
Lord  Dorminster,  who  only  half  an  hour  ago  had 


26     THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

seemed  to  be  in  the  prime  of  life  and  health,  lay  dead. 
Nigel  moved  towards  the  writing-table  and  stood 
looking  at  it  in  wonder.  The  code  book  still  re 
mained,  but  there  was  not  the  slightest  sign  of  any 
manuscript  or  paper  of  any  sort.  He  even  searched 
the  drawers  of  the  desk  without  result.  Every  trace 
of  Atcheson's  dispatch  and  Lord  Dorminster's 
transcription  of  it  had  disappeared! 


CHAPTER  III 

On  a  certain  day  some  weeks  after  the  adjourned 
inquest  and  funeral  of  Lord  Dorminster,  Nigel  ob 
tained  a  long-sought-for  interview  with  the  Right 
Honourable  Mervin  Brown,  who  had  started  life  as 
a  factory  inspector  and  was  now  Prime  Minister  of 
England.  The  great  man  received  his  visitor  with 
an  air  of  good-natured  tolerance. 

"  Heard  of  you  from  Scotland  Yard,  haven't  I, 
Lord  Dorminster?  "  he  said,  as  he  waved  him  to  a 
seat.  "  I  gather  that  you  disagreed  very  strongly 
with  the  open  verdict  which  was  returned  at  the 
inquest  upon  your  uncle?  " 

"  The  verdict  was  absolutely  at  variance  with  the 
facts,"  Nigel  declared.  "  My  uncle  was  murdered, 
and  a  secret  report  of  certain  doings  on  the  con 
tinent,  which  he  was  decoding  at  the  time,  was 
stolen." 

"  The  medical  evidence  scarcely  bears  out  your 
statement,"  Mr.  Mervin  Brown  pointed  out  dryly, 
"  nor  have  the  police  been  able  to  discover  how  any 
one  could  have  obtained  access  to  the  room,  or  left 
it,  without  leaving  some  trace  of  their  visit  behind. 
Further,  there  are  no  indications  of  a  robbery  hav 
ing  been  attempted." 


23  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

"  I  happen  to  know  more  than  any  one  else  about 
this  matter,"  Nigel  urged,  —  "  more,  even,  than  I 
thought  it  advisable  to  mention  at  the  inquest  —  and 
I  beg  you  to  listen  to  me,  Mr.  Mervin  Brown.  I 
know  that  you  considered  my  uncle  to  be  in  some 
respects  a  crank,  because  he  was  far-seeing  enough 
to  understand  that  under  the  seeming  tranquillity 
abroad  there  is  a  universal  and  deep-seated  hatred 
of  this  country." 

"  I  look  upon  that  statement  as  misleading  and 
untrue,"  the  Minister  declared.  "  Your  late  uncle 
belonged  to  that  mischievous  section  of  foreign  poli 
ticians  who  believed  in  secret  treaties  and  secret 
service,  and  who  fostered  a  state  of  nervous  unrest 
between  countries  otherwise  disposed  to  be  friendly. 
We  have  turned  over  a  new  leaf,  Lord  Dorminster. 
Our  efforts  are  all  directed  towards  developing  an 
international  spirit  of  friendliness  and  trust." 
.  "  Utopian  but  very  short-sighted,"  Nigel  com 
mented.  "  If  my  uncle  had  lived  to  finish  decoding 
the  report  upon  which  he  was  engaged,  I  could  have 
offered  you  proof  not  only  of  the  existence  of  the 
spirit  I  speak  of,  but  of  certain  practical  schemes 
inimical  to  this  country." 

"  The  papers  you  speak  of  have  disappeared," 
Mr.  Mervin  Brown  observed,  with  a  smile. 

"  They  were  taken  away  by  the  person  who  mur 
dered  my  uncle,"  Nigel  insisted. 

The  Right  Honourable  gentleman  nodded. 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  29 

"  Well,  you  know  my  views  about  the  affair,"  he 
said.  "  I  may  add  that  they  are  confirmed  by  the 
police.  I  am  in  no  way  prejudiced,  however,  and  am 
willing  to  listen  to  anything  you  may  have  to  say 
which  will  not  take  you  more  than  a  quarter  of  an 
hour,"  he  added,  glancing  at  the  clock  upon  his 
table. 

"  Here  goes,  then,"  Nigel  began.  "  My  uncle  was 
a  statesman  of  the  old  school  who  had  no  faith  in 
the  Utopian  programme  of  the  present  Government 
of  this  country.  When  you  abandoned  any  pretence 
of  a  continental  secret  service,  he  at  his  own  ex 
pense  instituted  a  small  one  of  his  own.  He  sent 
two  men  out  to  Germany  and  one  to  Russia.  The 
one  sent  to  Russia  was  the  man  Sidwell,  whose  mur 
der  in  a  Petrograd  cafe  you  may  have  read  of.  Of 
the  two  sent  to  Germany,  one  has  disappeared,  and 
the  other  died  in  hospital,  without  a  doubt  poisoned, 
a  few  days  after  he  had  sent  the  report  to  England 
which  was  stolen  from  my  uncle's  desk.  That  report 
was  brought  over  by  Lady  Maggie  Trent,  Lord 
Dorminster's  stepdaughter,  who  was  really  the  brains 
of  the  enterprise  and  under  another  name  was  act 
ing  as  governess  to  the  children  of  Herr  Essendorf, 
President  of  the  German  Republic.  Half  an  hour 
before  his  death,  my  uncle  was  decoding  this  dis 
patch  in  his  library.  I  saw  him  doing  it,  and  I  saw 
the  dispatch  itself.  He  told  me  that  so  far  as  he  had 
gone  already,  it  was  full  of  information  of  the 


30  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

gravest  import;  that  a  definite  scheme  was  already 
being  formulated  against  this  country  by  an  abso 
lutely  unique  and  dangerous  combination  of  enemies." 

"  Those  enemies  being?  " 

Nigel  shook  his  head. 

"  That  I  can  only  surmise,"  he  replied.  "  My 
uncle  had  only  commenced  to  decode  the  dispatch 
when  I  last  saw  him." 

"  Then  I  gather,  Lord  Dorminster,"  the  Minister 
said,  "  that  you  connect  your  uncle's  death  directly 
with  the  supposed  theft  of  this  document?  " 

"  Absolutely !  " 

"  And  the  conclusion  you  arrive  at,  then?  " 

"  Is  an  absolutely  logical  one,"  Nigel  declared 
firmly.  "  I  assert  that  other  countries  are  not  fall 
ing  into  line  with  our  lamentable  abnegation  of  all 
secret  service  defence,  and  that,  in  plain  words,  my 
uncle  was  murdered  by  an  agent  of  one  of  these 
countries,  in  order  that  the  dispatch  which  had  come 
into  his  hands  should  not  be  decoded  and  passed  on 
to  your  Government." 

The  Right  Honourable  gentleman  smiled  slightly. 
He  was  a  man  of  some  natural  politeness,  but  he 
found  it  hard  to  altogether  conceal  his  incredulity. 

"  Well,  Lord  Dorminster,"  he  promised,  "  I  will 
consider  all  that  you  have  said.  Is  there  anything 
more  I  can  do  for  you?" 

"  Yes !  "  Nigel  replied  boldly.  "  Induce  the  Cabi 
net  to  reestablish  our  Intelligence  Department  and 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  31 

secret  service,  even  on  a  lesser  scale,  and  don't  rest 
until  you  have  discovered  exactly  what  it  is  they 
are  plotting  against  us  somewhere  on  the  continent." 

"  To  carry  out  your  suggestions,  Lord  Dormin- 
ster,"  the  Minister  pointed  out,  "  would  be  to  be 
guilty  of  an  infringement  of  the  spirit  of  the  League 
of  Nations,  the  existence  of  which  body  is,  we  be 
lieve,  a  practical  assurance  of  our  safety." 

Nigel  rose  to  his  feet. 

"  As  man  to  man,  sir,"  he  said,  "  I  see  you  don't 
believe  a  word  of  what  I  have  been  telling  you." 

"  As  man  to  man,"  the  other  admitted  pleasantly, 
as  he  touched  tHe  bell,  "  I  think  you  have  been  de 
ceived." 

Nigel,  even  as  a  prophet  of  woe,  was  a  very  human 
person  and  withal  a  philosopher.  He  strolled  along 
Piccadilly  and  turned  into  Bond  Street,  thoroughly  ^ 
enjoying  one  of  the  first  spring  days  of  the  season. 
Flower  sellers  were  busy  at  every  corner;  the  sky 
was  blue,  with  tiny  flecks  of  white  clouds,  there 
was  even  some  dust  stirred  by  the  little  puffs  of 
west  wind.  He  exchanged  greetings  with  a  few 
acquaintances,  lingered  here  and  there  before  the 
shop  windows,  and  presently  developed  a  fit  of  con 
templation  engendered  by  the  thoughts  which  were 
all  the  time  at  the  back  of  his  mind.  Bond  Street 
was  crowded  with  vehicles  of  all  sorts,  from  wonder 
fully  upholstered  automobiles  to  the  resuscitated 


32  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

victoria.  The  shop  windows  were  laden  with  the 
treasures  of  the  world,  buyers  were  plentiful,  prom- 
enaders  multitudinous.  Every  one  seemed  to  be 
cheerful  but  a  little  engrossed  in  the  concrete  act  of 
living.  Nigel  almost  ran  into  Prince  Karschoff,  at 
the  corner  of  Graf  ton  Street. 

"  Dreaming,  my  friend?  "  the  latter  asked  quietly, 
as  he  laid  his  hand  upon  Nigel's  shoulder. 

"  Guilty,"  Nigel  confessed.  "  You  are  an  ob 
servant  man,  Prince.  Tell  me  whether  anything 
strikes  you  about  the  Bond  Street  of  to-day,  com 
pared  with  the  Bond  Street  of,  say,  ten  years  ago?  " 

The  Russian  glanced  around  him  curiously.  He 
himself  was  a  somewhat  unusual  figure  in  his  dis 
tinctively  cut  morning  coat,  his  carefully  tied 
cravat,  his  silk  hat,  black  and  white  check  trousers 
and  faultless  white  spats. 

"  A  certain  decline  of  elegance,'*  he  murmured. 
"  And  is  it  my  fancy  or  has  this  country  become  a 
trifle  Americanised  as  regards  the  headgear  of  its 
men?  " 

Nigel  smiled. 

"  I  believe  our  thoughts  are  moving  in  the  same 
groove,"  he  said.  "  To  me  there  seems  to  be  a  differ 
ent  class  of  people  here,  as  though  the  denizens  of 
West  Kensington,  suddenly  enriched,  had  come  to 
spend  their  money  in  new  quarters.  Not  only  that, 
but  there  is  a  difference  in  the  wares  set  out  in  the 
shops,  an  absence  of  taste,  if  you  can  understand 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN     33 

what  I  mean,  as  though,  the  shopkeepers  themselves 
understood  that  they  were  catering  for  a  new  class 
of  people." 

"  It  is  the  triumph  of  your  bourgeoisie,"  the  Rus 
sian  declared.  "  Your  aristocrat  is  no  longer  able 
to  survive.  Noblesse  oblige  has  no  significance  to 
the  shopman.  He  wants  the  fat  cheques,  and  he 
caters  for  the  people  who  can  write  them.  Let  us 
pursue  our  reflections  a  little  farther  and  in  a 
different  direction,  my  friend,"  he  added,  glancing 
at  his  watch.  "  Lunch  with  me  at  the  Ritz,  and 
we  will  see  whether  the  cookery,  too,  has  been 
adapted  to  the  new  tastes." 

Nigel  hesitated  for  a  moment,  a  somewhat  curious 
hesitation  which  he  many  times  afterwards  remem 
bered. 

"  I  am  not  very  keen  on  restaurants  for  a  week 
or  two,"  he  said  doubtfully.  "  Besides,  I  had  half 
promised  to  be  at  the  club." 

"  Not  to-day,"  Karschoff  insisted.  "  To-day  let 
us  listen  to  the  call  of  the  world.  Woman  is  at  her 
loveliest  in  the  spring.  The  Ritz  Restaurant  will 
look  like  a  bouquet  of  flowers.  Perhaps  *  One  for 
you  and  one  for  me.'  At  any  rate,  one  is  sure  of 
an  omelette  one  can  eat." 

The  two  men  turned  together  towards  Piccadilly. 


CHAPTER  IV 

Luncheon  at  the  Ritz  was  an  almost  unexpectedly 
pleasant  meal.  The  two  men  sat  at  a  table  near 
the  door  and  exchanged  greetings  with  many  ac 
quaintances.  Karschoff,  who  was  in  an  unusually 
loquacious  frame  of  mind,  pointed  out  many  of  the 
habitues  of  the  place  to  his  companion. 

"  I  am  become  a  club  and  restaurant  lounger  in 
my  old  age,"  he  declared,  a  little  bitterly.  "  Almost 
a  boulevardier.  Still,  what  else  is  there  for  a  man 
without  a  country  to  do  ?  " 

"  You  know  everybody,"  Nigel  replied,  without 
reference  to  his  companion's  lament.  "  Tell  me  who 
the  woman  is  who  has  just  entered?  " 

Karschoff  glanced  in  the  direction  indicated,  and 
for  a  moment  his  somewhat  saturnine  expression 
changed.  A  smile  played  upon  his  lips,  his  eyes 
seemed  to  rest  upon  the  figure  of  the  girl  half  turned 
away  from  them  with  interest,  almost  with  pleasure. 
She  was  of  an  unusual  type,  tall  and  dark,  dressed 
in  black  with  the  simplicity  of  a  nun,  with  only  a 
little  gleam  of  white  at  her  throat.  Her  hair  —  so 
much  of  it  as  showed  under  her  flower-garlanded 
hat  —  was  as  black  as  jet,  and  yet,  where  she  stood 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  35 

in  the  full  glare  of  the  sunlight,  the  burnish  of  it 
was  almost  wine-coloured.  Her  cheeks  were  pale,  her 
expression  thoughtful.  Her  eyes,  rather  heavily 
lidded,  were  a  deep  shade  of  violet.  Her  mouth  was 
unexpectedly  soft  and  red. 

"  Ah,  my  friend,  no  wonder  you  ask !  "  Karschoff 
declared  with  enthusiasm.  "  That  is  a  woman  whom 
you  must  know." 

"  Tell  me  her  name,"  Nigel  persisted  with  grow 
ing  impatience. 

"  Her  name,"  Karschoff  replied,  "  is  Naida 
Karetsky.  She  is  the  daughter  of  the  man  who  will 
probably  be  the  next  President  of  the  Russian  Re 
public.  You  see,  I  can  speak  those  words  without  a 
tremor.  Her  father  at  present  represents  the  ship 
ping  interests  of  Russia  and  England.  He  is  one  of 
the  authorised  consuls." 

"Is  he  of.  the  party?" 

Karschoff  scrutinised  the  approaching  figures 
through  his  eyeglass  and  nodded. 

"  Her  father  is  the  dark,  broad-shouldered  man 
with  the  square  beard,"  he  indicated.  "  Immelan,  as 
you  can  see,  is  the  third.  They  are  coming  this 
way.  We  will  speak  of  them  afterwards." 

Naida,  with  her  father  and  Oscar  Immelan,  left 
some  acquaintances  with  whom  they  had  been  talk 
ing  and,  preceded  by  a  maitre  d'hotd,  moved  in  the 
direction  of  the  two  men.  The  girl  recognised  the 
Prince  with  a  charming  little  bow  and  was  on  the 


36  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

point  of  passing  on  when  she  appeared  to  notice  his 
companion.  For  a  moment  she  hesitated.  The 
Prince,  anticipating  her  desire  to  speak,  rose  at  once 
to  his  feet. 

"  Mademoiselle,"  he  said,  bending  over  her  hand, 
"  welcome  back  to  England !  You  bring  with  you 
the  first  sunshine  we  have  seen  for  many  days." 

"  Are  you  being  meteorological  or  complimen 
tary?  "  she  asked,  smiling.  "  Will  you  present  your 
companion?  I  have  heard  of  Mr.  Kingley." 

"  With  the  utmost  pleasure,"  the  Prince  replied. 
"  Mr.  Kingley,  through  the  unfortunate  death  of  a 
relative,  is  now  the  Earl  of  Dorminster  —  Mademoi 
selle  Karetsky." 

Nigel,  as  he  made  his  bow,  was  conscious  of  an  ex 
pression  of  something  more  than  ordinary  curiosity 
in  the  face  of  the  girl  who  had  herself  aroused  his 
interest. 

"  You  are' the  son,  then,"  she  enquired,  "  of  Lord 
Dorminster  who  died  about  a  month  ago  ?  " 

"  His  nephew,"  Nigel  explained.  "  My  uncle  was 
unfortunately  childless." 

"  I  met  your  uncle  once  in  Paris,"  she  said.  "  It 
will  give  me  great  pleasure  to  make  your  better 
acquaintance.  Will  you  and  my  dear  friend  here." 
she  added,  turning  to  the  Prince,  "  take  coffee  with 
us  afterwards?  I  shall  then  introduce  you  to  my 
father.  Oscar  Immelan  you  both  know,  of  course." 

They  murmured  their  delighted  assent,  and  she 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  37 

passed  on.  Nigel  watched  her  until  she  took  her 
place  at  the  table. 

"  Surely  that  girl  is  well-born  ?  "  he  observed.  **  I 
have  never  seen  a  more  delightful  carriage." 

"  You  are  right,"  Karschoff  told  him.  "  Karetsky 
is  a  well-to-do  man  of  commerce,  but  her  mother  was 
a  Baroness  Kolchekoff,  a  distant  relative  of  my  own. 
The  Kolchekoffs  lived  on  their  estates,  and  as  a 
matter  of  fact  we  never  met.  Naida  has  gone  over 
to  the  people,  though,  body  and  soul." 

"  She  is  extraordinarily  beautiful,"  Nigel  re 
marked. 

His  companion  was  swinging  his  eyeglass  back 
and  forth  by  its  cord. 

"  Many  men  have  thought  so,"  he  replied.  "  For 
myself,  there  is  antagonism  in  my  blood  against  her. 
I  wonder  whether  I  have  done  well  or  ill  in  making 
you  two  acquainted." 

Nigel  felt  a  sudden  desire  to  break  through  a  cer 
tain  seriousness  which  had  come  over  his  own 
thoughts  and  which  was  reflected  in  the  other's  tone. 
He  shrugged  his  shoulders  slightly  and  filled  his 
glass  with  wine. 

"  Every  man  in  the  world  is  the  better,"  he  pro 
pounded,  "  for  adding  to  the  circle  of  his  acquaint 
ances  a  beautiful  woman." 

"  Sententious  and  a  trifle  inaccurate,"  the  Prince 
objected,  with  a  sudden  flash  of  his  white  teeth. 
"  The  beauty  which  is  not  for  him  has  been  many  a 


38  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

man's  undoing.  But  seriously,  my  quarrel  with 
Naida  is  one  of  prejudice  only.  She  is  the  confidante 
and  the  inspiration  of  Matinsky,  and  though  one 
realises,  of  course,  that  so  long  as  there  is  a  Russian 
Republic  there  must  be  a  Russian  President,  I  sup 
pose  I  should  scarcely  be  human  if  I  did  not  hate 
him." 

"  Surely,"  Nigel  queried,  "  she  must  be  very  much 
his  junior?  " 

"  Matinsky  is  forty-four,"  Karschoff  said. 
"  Naida  is  twenty-six  or  twenty-seven.  The  dis 
parity  of  years,  you  see,  is  not  so  great.  Matinsky, 
however,  is  married  to  an  invalid  wife,  and  concern 
ing  Naida  I  have  never  heard  one  word  of  scandal. 
But  this  much  is  certain.  Matinsky  has  the  blandest 
confidence  in  her  judgment  and  discretion.  She  has 
already  been  his  unofficial  ambassador  in  several 
capitals  of  Europe.  I  am  convinced  that  she  is 
here  with  a  purpose.  But  enough  of  my  country- 
people.  We  came  here  to  be  gay.  Let  us  drink 
another  bottle  of  wine." 

The  joy  of  living  seemed  for  a  moment  to  reas 
sert  itself  in  KarschofPs  face.  His  momentary  fierce 
ness,  reminiscent  of  his  Tartar  ancestry,  had  passed, 
but  it  had  left  a  shadow  behind. 

"  At  least  one  should  be  grateful,"  he  conceded  a 
moment  later,  "  for  the  distinction  such  a  woman  as 
Naida  Karetsky  brings  into  a  room  like  this.  Our 
Bond  Street  lament  finds  its  proof  here.  Except  for 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN     39 

their  clothes  —  so  ill-worn,  too,  most  of  them  —  the 
women  here  remind  one  of  Blackpool,  and  their  men 
of  Huddersfield.  I  am  inclined  to  wish  that  I  had 
taken  you  to  Soho." 

Nigel  shook  his  head.  His  eyes  had  strayed  to 
a  distant  corner  of  the  room,  where  Naida  and  her 
two  companions  were  seated. 

"  We  cannot  escape  anywhere,"  he  declared, 
"  from  this  overmastering  wave  of  mediocrity.  A 
couple  of  generations  and  a  little  intermarriage  may 
put  things  right.  A  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer 
with  genius,  fifteen  years  ago,  might  even  have  pre 
vented  it." 

"  You  can  claim,  at  any  rate,  a  bloodless  and  un- 
apparent  revolution,"  the  Prince  observed.  "  You 
chivied  your  aristocracy  of  birth  out  of  existence 
with  yellow  papers,  your  aristocracy  of  mind  with 
a  devastating  income  tax.  This  is  the  class  whom 
you  left  to  gorge,  —  the  war  profiteers.  I  hope  that 
whoever  writes  the  history  of  these  times  will  see 
that  it  is  properly  illustrated." 

In  the  lounge,  they  had  barely  se,ated  themselves 
before  Naida,  with  her  father  and  Immelan,  ap 
peared.  The  little  party  at  once  joined  up,  and 
Naida  seated  herself  next  to  Nigel.  She  talked  very 
slowly,  but  her  accent  amounted  to  little  more  than 
a  prolongation  of  certain  syllables,  which  had  the 
effect  of  a  rather  musical  drawl.  Her  father,  after 
the  few  words  of  introduction  had  been  spoken, 


40  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

strolled  away  to  speak  to  some  acquaintances,  and 
Immelan  and  the  Prince  discussed  with  measured 
politeness  one  of  the  commonplace  subjects  of  the 
moment.  Naida  and  her  companion  became  almost 
isolated. 

"  I  met  your  uncle  once,"  Naida  said,  "  at  a  din 
ner  party  in  Paris.  I  remember  that  he  attracted 
me.  He  represented  a  class  of  Englishman  of  whom 
I  had  met  very  few,  the  thinking  aristocrat  with 
a  sense  for  foreign  affairs.  It  was  some  years  ago, 
that.  He  remained  outside  politics,  did  he  not,  until 
his  death?" 

"  Outside  all  practical  politics,"  Nigel  assented. 
"  He  had  his  interests,  though." 

She  looked  at  him  thoughtfully. 

"  Have  you  inherited  them  ?  "  she  asked. 

He  declined  the  challenge  of  her  eyes.  After  all, 
she  belonged  to  the  Russia  whose  growing  strength 
was  the  greatest  menace  to  European  peace,  and 
whose  attitude  towards  England  was  entirely  uncer 
tain. 

"  My  uncle  and  I  were  scarcely  intimate,"  he 
said.  "  I  was  never  really  in  his  confidence." 

"  Not  so  much  so  as  Lady  Maggie  Trent?  She 
would  be  your  cousin?  " 

"  It  is  not  a  relationship  of  blood,"  Nigel  replied. 
"  Lady  Maggie  was  the  daughter  of  my  uncle's 
second  wife." 

"  She  is  very  charming,"  Naida  murmured. 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN     41 

"  I  find  her  delightful,"  Nigel  agreed. 

"  She  is  not  only  charming,  but  she  has  intelli 
gence,"  Naida  continued.  "  I  think  that  Lord  Dor- 
minster  was  very  fond  of  her,  that  he  trusted  her 
with  many  of  his  secrets." 

"  Had  he  secrets?  "  Nigel  asked. 

She  remained  for  a  moment  very  thoughtful, 
smoking  a  thin  cigarette  through  a  long  holder  and 
watching  the  little  rings  of  smoke. 

"  You  are  right,"  she  said  at  last.  "  I  find  your 
attitude  the  only  correct  one.  Did  you  know  that 
Maggie  was  a  friend  of  mine,  Lord  Dorminster?  " 

"  I  can  very  well  believe  it,"  he  answered,  "but  I 
have  never  heard  her  speak  of  you." 

"  Ah !  But  she  has  been  away  for  some  months. 
You  have  not  seen  much  of  her,  perhaps,  since  her 
return?  " 

"  Very  little,"  he  acquiesced.  "  She  only  arrived 
in  London  just  before  my  uncle's  death,  and  since 
then  I  have  had  to  spend  some  time  at  Dorminster." 

"  As  a  matter  of  curiosity,"  Naida  enquired, 
"  when  do  you  expect  to  see  her  again?  " 

"  This  afternoon,  I  hope,"  he  replied,  —  "  directly 
I  leave  here,  in  fact." 

"  Then  you  will  give  her  a  little  message  for  me, 
please?  " 

"  With  great  pleasure !  " 

"  Tell  her  from  me  —  mind  she  understands  this, 


42  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

if  you  please  —  that  she  is  not  to  leave  England 
again  until  we  have  met." 

"  Is  this  a  warning?  "  he  asked. 

She  looked  at  him  searchingly. 

"  I  wonder,"  she  reflected,  "  how  much  of  you  is 
Lord  Dorminster's  nephew." 

"And  I,  in  my  turn,"  he  rejoined,  with  sudden 
boldness,  "  wonder  how  much  of  you  is  Matinsky's 
envoy." 

She  began  to  laugh  softly. 

"  We  shall  perhaps  be  friends,  Lord  Dorminster," 
she  said.  "  I  should  like  to  see  more  of  you." 

"  You  will  permit  me  to  call  upon  you,"  he  begged 
eagerly. 

"  Will  you  come?  We  are  at  the  Milan  Court  for 
a  little  time.  My  father  is  trying  to  get  a  house. 
My  sister  is  coming  over  to  look  after  him.  I 
am  unfortunately  only  a  bird  of  passage." 

"  Then  I  shall  not  run  the  risk  of  missing  you," 
he  declared.  "  I  shall  call  very  soon." 

Immelan  intervened,  —  grim,  suspicious,  a  little 
disturbed.  For  some  reason  or  other,  the  meeting 
between  these  two  young  people  seemed  to  have  made 
him  uneasy. 

"  Your  father  has  desired  me  to  present  his  ex 
cuses  to  Lord  Dorminster,"  he  announced,  "  and  to 
escort  you  back  to  the  Milan.  He  has  been  tele 
phoned  for  from  the  Consulate." 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  43 

Naida  rose  to  her  feet  with  some  apparent  reluc 
tance. 

"  You  will  not  delay  your  call  too  long,  Lord 
Dorminster  ? "  she  enjoined,  as  she  gave  him  her 
hand.  "  I  shall  expect  you  the  first  afternoon  you 
are  free;" 

"  I  shall  not  delay  giving  myself  the  pleasure," 
he  assured  her. 

She  nodded  and  made  her  adieux  to  the  Prince. 
The  two  men  stood  together  and  watched  her  depart 
with  her  companion. 

"  Really,  one  gains  much  through  being  an  on 
looker,"  the  Prince  reflected.  "  There  go  the  spirit 
of  Russia  and  the  spirit  of  Germany.  You  dabble 
in  these  things,  my  friend  Dorminster.  Can  you 
guess  what  they  are  met  for  —  for  whom  they  wait  ?  " 

"  I  might  guess,"  Nigel  replied,  "  but  I  would 
rather  be  told." 

"  They  wait  for  the  master  spirit,'*  Karschoff 
declared,  taking  his  arm.  "  They  wait  for  the 
great  Prince  Shan." 


CHAPTER  V 

Nigel  and  Maggie  had  tea  together  in  the  little 
room  which  the  latter  had  used  as  a  boudoir.  They 
were  discussing  the  question  of  her  future  residence 
there. 

"  I  am  afraid,"  he  declared,  "  that  you  will  have 
to  marry  me." 

"  It  would  have  its  advantages,"  she  admitted 
thoughtfully.  "  I  am  really  so  fond  of  you,  Nigel. 
I  should  be  married  at  St.  Mary  Abbot's,  Kensing 
ton,  and  have  the  Annersley  children  for  brides 
maids.  Don't  you  think  I  should  look  sweet  in  old 
gold  and  orange  blossoms?  " 

"  Don't  tantalise  me,"  he  begged. 

"  We  really  must  decide  upon  something,"  she 
insisted.  "  I  hate  giving  up  my  rooms  here,  I  should 
hate  having  my  worthy  aunt  as  resident  duenna, 
and  I  suppose  it  would  be  gloriously  improper  for 
us  two  to  go  on  living  here  if  I  didn't.  Are  you 
quite  sure  that  you  love  me,  Nigel  ?  " 

"  I  am  not  quite  so  sure  as  I  was  this  morning,'* 
he  confessed,  holding  out  his  cup  for  some  more  tea. 
"  I  met  a  perfectly  adorable  girl  to-day  at  luncheon 
at  the  Ritz.  Such  eyes,  Maggie,  and  the  slimmest, 
most  wonderful  figure  you  ever  saw!  " 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  45 

"Who  was  the  cat?"  Maggie  enquired  with  as 
perity. 

"  She  is  Russian.  Her  name  is  Naida  Karctsky. 
Karschoff  introduced  me." 

Maggie  was  suddenly  serious.  There  was  just  a 
trace  of  the  one  expression  he  had  never  before  seen 
in  her  face  —  fear  —  lurking  in  her  eyes,  even  as 
serting  itself  in  /her  tone. 

"  Naida  Karetsky  ?  "  she  repeated.  "  Tell  me 
exactly  how  you  met  her?  " 

"  She  was  lunching  with  her  father  and  Oscar 
Immelan.  She  stopped  to  speak  to  KarschofF  and 
asked  him  to  present  me.  Afterwards,  she  invited 
us  to  take  coffee  in  the  lounge." 

"  She  went  out  of  her  way  to  make  your  acquaint 
ance,  then?  " 

"  Yes,  I  suppose  she  did." 

"  You  know  who  she  is  ?  " 

"  The  daughter  of  one  of  the  Russian  Consuls  over 
here,  I  understood." 

"  She  is  more  than  that,"  Maggie  declared  ner 
vously.  "  She  is  the  inspiration  of  the  President 
himself.  She  is  the  most  vital  force  in  Russian 
politics.  She  is  the  woman  whom  I  wanted  you  to 
know,  to  whom  I  told  you  that  I  wished  you  to  pay 
attentions.  And  now  that  you  know  her,  I  am 
afraid." 

"  Where  did  you  meet  her?  "  he  asked  curiously. 

"  We  were  at  school  together  in  Paris.     She  was 


46  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

two  years  older  than  I,  but  she  stayed  there  until  she 
was  twenty.    Afterwards  we  met  in  Florence." 

Nigel  was  greatly  interested. 

"  Somehow  or  other,  nothing  that  you  can  tell 
me  about  her  surprises  me,"  he  admitted.  "  She  has 
the  air  of  counting  for  great  things  in  the  world. 
She  is  very  beautiful,  too.'* 

"  She  is  beautiful  enough,"  Maggie  replied,  "  to 
have  turned  the  head  of  the  great  Paul  Matinsky 
himself.  They  say  that  he  would  give  his  soul  to 
be  free  to  marry  her.  As  it  is,  she  is  the  uncrowned 
Tsarina  of  Russia." 

Nigel  frowned  slightly. 

"  Isn't  that  going  rather  a  long  way  ?  "  lie  ob 
jected. 

"  Not  when  one  remembers  what  manner  of  a  man 
Matinsky  is,"  Maggie  replied.  "  He  may  have  his 
faults,  but  he  is  an  absolute  idealist  so  far  as  regards 
his  private  life.  There  has  never  been  a  word  of 
scandal  concerning  him  and  Naida,  nor  will  there 
ever  be.  But  in  his  eyes,  Naida  has  that  most 
wonderful  gift  of  all,  —  she  has  vision.  He  once  told 
a  man  with  whom  I  spoke  in  Berlin  that  Naida  was 
the  one  person  in  the  world  to  whom  a  mistake  was 
impossible.  Nigel,  did  she  give  you  any  idea  at  all 
what  she  was  over  here  for?  " 

"  Not  as  yet,"  he  replied,  "  but  she  has  asked  me 
to  go  and  see  her." 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  47 

"  Did  she  seem  interested  in  you  personally,  or 
was  it  because  your  name  is  Dorminster  ?  " 

Nigel  sighed. 

"  I  hoped  it  was  a  personal  interest,  but  I  cannot 
tell.  She  asked  me  whether  I  had  inherited  my 
uncle's  hobby." 

"  What  did  you  tell  her?  "  she  asked  eagerly. 

"  Very  little.  She  seemed  sympathetic,  but  after 
all  she  is  in  the  enemy  camp.  She  and  Immelan 
seemed  on  particularly  good  terms." 

"  Yet  I  don't  believe  that  she  is  committed  as  yet," 
Maggie  declared.  "  She  always  used  to  speak  so 
affectionately  of  England.  Nigel,  do  you  think  that 
I  have  vision?  " 

"  I  am  sure  that  you  have,"  he  answered. 

"  Very  well,  then,  I  will  tell  you  what  I  see,"  she 
continued.  "  I  see  Naida  Karetsky  for  Russia, 
Oscar  Immelan  for  Germany,  Austria  and  Sweden, 
and  Prince  Shan  for  Asia  —  here  —  meeting  in  Lon 
don —  within  the  next  week  or  ten  days,  to  take 
counsel  together  to  decide  whether  the  things  which 
are  being  plotted  against  us  to-day  shall  be  or  shall 
not  be.  Of  Immelan  we  have  no  hope.  He  conceals 
it  cleverly  enough,  but  he  hates  England  with  all 
the  fervour  of  a  zealot.  Naida  is  unconvinced.  She 
is  to  be  won.  And  Prince  Shan " 

"  Well,  what  about  him?  "  Nigel  demanded,  a  little 
carried  away  by  Maggie's  earnestness. 

She  shook  her  head. 


48  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

"  I  don't  know,'*  she  confessed.  "  If  the  stories 
one  hears  about  him  are  true,  no  man  nor  any 
woman  could  ever  influence  him.  At  least,  though, 
one  could  watch  and  hope." 

"  Prince  Shan  is  supposed  to  be  coming  to  Paris, 
not  to  London,"  Nigel  remarked. 

"  If  he  goes  to  Paris,"  Maggie  said,  "  Naida  and 
Immelan  will  go.  So  shall  we.  If  he  comes  here,  it 
will  be  easier.  Tell  me,  Nigel,  did  you  see  the  Prime 
Minister?  " 

"  I  saw  him,"  Nigel  replied,  "  but  without  the 
slightest  result.  He  is  clearly  of  the  opinion  that 
the  open  verdict  was  a  merciful  one.  In  other  words, 
he  believes  that  it  was  a  case  of  suicide." 

"  How  wicked !  "  Maggie  exclaimed. 

"  I  suppose  it  is  trying  the  ordinary  Britisher  a 
little  high,"  Nigel  remarked,  "  to  ask  him  to  believe 
that  he  was  murdered  in  cold  blood,  here  in  the 
heart  of  London,  by  the  secret  service  agent  of  a 
foreign  Power.  The  strangest  part  of  it  all  is  that 
it  is  true.  To  think  that  those  few  pages  of  manu 
script  would  have  told  us  exactly  what  we  have  to 
fear!  Why,  I  actually  had  them  in  my  hand." 

"  And  I  in  my  corsets  !  "  Maggie  groaned. 

They  were  both  silent  for  a  moment.  Then  Nigel 
moved  towards  the  door  and  opened  it. 

"  Come  downstairs  into  the  library,  will  you, 
Maggie  ?  "  he  begged.  "  Let  us  go  in  for  a  little  re 
construction." 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN     49 

They  found  Brookes  in  the  hall  and  took  him  with 
them.  The  blinds  in  the  room  had  never  been  raised, 
and  there  was  still  that  nameless  atmosphere  which 
lingers  for  long  in  an  apartment  which  has  become 
associated  with  tragedy.  Instinctively  they  all 
moved  quietly  and  spoke  in  hushed  voices.  Nigel  sat 
in  the  chair  where  his  uncle  had  been  found  dead 
and  made  a  mental  effort  to  reconstruct  the  events 
which  must  have  immediately  preceded  the  tragedy. 

"  I  know  that  this  was  all  thrashed  out  at  the 
inquest,  Brookes,"  he  said,  "  but  I  want  you  to  tell 
me  once  more.  You  see  how  far  it  is  from  this 
table  to  the  door.  My  uncle  must  have  had  abundant 
warning  of  any  one  approaching.  Was  there  no 
other  way  by  which  any  one  could  have  entered  the 
room?  " 

"  There  was,  your  lordship,"  the  man  replied, 
"  and  I  have  regretted  several  times  since  that  I  did 
not  mention  it  at  the  inquest.  The  cleaners  were 
here  on  the  morning  of  that  day,  and  the  window 
at  the  farther  end  of  the  room  was  unfastened  —  I 
even  believe  that  it  was  open." 

Nigel  rose  and  examined  the  window  in  question. 
It  was  almost  flush  with  the  ground,  and  although 
there  were  iron  railings  separating  it  from  the  street, 
a  little  gate  opening  from  the  area  entrance  made 
ingress  not  only  possible  but  easy.  Nigel  returned 
to  his  chair. 


50  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

"  I  can't  understand  this  not  having  been  men 
tioned  at  the  inquest,  Brookes,'*  he  said. 

"  I  was  waiting  for  the  question  to  be  asked,  your 
lordship.  It  was  perfectly  clear  to  every  one  there, 
if  your  lordship  will  excuse  my  saying  so,  that  both 
the  coroner  and  the  police  seemed  to  have  made  up 
their  minds  that  it  was  a  case  of  suicide."- 

Nigel  nodded. 

"  I  had  the  same  idea  with  reference  to  the  cor 
oner,  at  any  rate,  Brookes,"  he  said.  "  So  long  as 
the  verdict  was  returned  in  the  form  it  was,  I  am 
not  sure  that  it  was  not  better  so." 

He  dismissed  the  man  with  a  little  nod  and  sat 
turning  over  the  code  books  which  still  stood  upon 
the  table. 

"  You  and  I,  at  any  rate,  Maggie,  know  the  truth," 
he  said,  "  and  so  long  as  we  can  get  no  help  from 
the  jproper  quarters,  I  think  that  we  should  do  better 
to  let  the  matter  remain  as  it  is.  We  don't  want  to 
direct  people's  attention  to  us.  We  want  to  lull 
suspicion  so  far  as  we  can,  to  be  free  to  watch  the 
three." 

The  telephone  bell  rang,  and  as  Nigel  moved  his 
arm  to  take  off  the  receiver,  he  knocked  over  one  of 
the  black,  morocco-bound  code  books.  A  sheet  of 
paper  with  a  few  words  upon  it  came  fluttering  to 
the  ground.  Maggie  picked  it  up,  glanced  at  it 
carelessly  at  first  and  then  with  interest. 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN     51 

"  Nigel,"  sne  exclaimed,  "  you  see  whose  hand 
writing  this  is  ?  Could  it  be  part  of  the  decoded  dis 
patch?  " 

The  telephone  enquiry  had  been  unimportant. 
Nigel  pushed  the  instrument  away.  They  both 
looked  eagerly  at  the  page  of  manuscript  paper.  It 
was  numbered  "  8  "  at  the  top,  and  the  few  words 
written  upon  it  in  Lord  Dorminster's  writing  were 
obviously  the  continuation  of  a  paragraph: 

The  name  of  the  middle  one,  then,  of  the  three 
secret  cities,  into  which  at  all  costs  some  one  must 
find  his  way,  is  Kroten,  and  the  telephone  number 
which  is  all  the  clue  I  have  been  able  to  get,  up  to 
the  present,  to  the  London  end  of  the  affair,  is 
May  fair  146. 

"  This  is  just  where  he  got  to  in  the  decoding! " 
Nigel  declared.  "  I  wonder  whether  it's  any  use 
looking  for  the  rest." 

They  searched  through  every  page  of  the  heavy 
code  books  in  vain.  Then  they  returned  to  their 
study  of  the  single  page.  Nigel  dragged  down  an 
atlas  and  studied  it. 

"  Kroten,"  he  muttered.  "  Here  it  is,  —  a  small 
place  about  six  hundred  miles  from  Petrograd,  ap 
parently  the  centre  of  a  barren,  swampy  district, 
population  thirty  thousand,  birth  rate  declining, 
industries  nil.  Cheerful  sort  of  spot  it  seems  !  " 

"  I  have  more  luck  than  you !  "  Maggie  cried,  her 


52  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

finger  tracing  out  a  line  in  the  open  telephone  book. 
"Look!" 

Nigel   glanced   over  her   shoulder  and   read  the 
entry  to  which  she  was  pointing : 

"Immelan  Oscar,  IS  Clarges  Street,  W.  Mayfair  146" 


CHAPTER  VI 

Nigel  played  golf  at  Ranelagh,  on  the  following 
Sunday  morning,  with  Jere  Chalmers,  a  young 
American  in  the  Diplomatic  Service,  who  had  just 
arrived  in  London  and  brought  a  letter  of  introduc 
tion  to  him.  They  had  a  pleasant  game  and  strolled 
off  from  the  eighteenth  green  to  the  dressing  rooms 
on  the  best  of  terms  with  each  other. 

"  Say,  Dorminster,"  his  young  companion  en 
joined,  "  let's  get  through  this  fixing-up  business 
quickly.  I've  had  a  kind  of  feeling  for  a  cocktail, 
these  last  four  holes,  which  I  can't  exactly  put  into 
words.  Besides,  I  want  to  have  a  word  or  two  with 
you  before  the  others  come  down." 

"  I  shan't  be  a  minute,"  Nigel  promised.  "  I'm 
going  to  change  into  flannels  after  lunch  —  that  is, 
if  you  don't  mind  playing  a  set  or  two  at  tennis. 
My  cousin-in-law  Maggie  Trent,  whom  you'll  meet 
at  luncheon,  is  rather  keen,  and  she  doesn't  care 
about  golf." 

"  I'm  game  for  anything,"  the  other  agreed,  lift 
ing  his  head  spluttering  from  the  basin.  "  Gee,  that's 
good !  Get  a  move  on,  there's  a  good  fellow.  I  have 
a  fancy  for  just  five  minutes  with  you  out  on  the 
lawn,  with  the  ice  chinking  in  our  glasses." 


54  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

Nigel  finished  smoothing  his  hair,  and  the  two 
men  strolled  through  the  hall,  gave  an  order  to 
a  red-coated  attendant,  and  found  a  secluded  table 
under  a  marvellous  tree  in  the  gardens  on  the  other 
side.  Chalmers  had  become  a  little  thoughtful. 

"  Dorminster,"  he  declared,  "  yours  is  a  wonderful 
country." 

"  Just  how  is  it  appealing  to  you  at  the  moment?  " 
Nigel  enquired. 

"  I'll  try  and  tell  you,"  was  the  meditative  reply. 
"  It's  your  extraordinary  insouciance.  It  seems  to 
me,  as  a  budding  diplomat,  that  you  are  running  the 
most  ghastly  risks  on  earth." 

"  In  what  direction  ?  " 

The  young  American  shrugged  his  shoulders. 

"  Well,  you've  got  a  thoroughly  democratic  Gov 
ernment  —  not  such  a  bad  Government,  I  should  say, 
as  things  go.  They've  bled  your  bourgeoisie  a  bit, 
and  serve  *em  right,  but  with  an  empire  to  keep  up 
you're  losing1  all  touch  upon  international  politics. 
Your  ambassadors  have  been  exchanged  for  trade 
consuls,  the  whole  of  your  secret  service  staff  has 
been  disbanded,  you  place  your  entire  faith  on  this 
sacred  League  of  Nations.  Say,  Dorminster,  you're 
taking  risks !  " 

"  You  mustn't  forget,"  Dorminster  replied,  "  that 
it  was  your  country  who  started  the  League  of 
Nations." 

"  President     Wilson     did,"     Chalmers     grunted. 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  55 

61  You  can't  say  that  the  country  ever  backed  him 
up.  That's  the  worst  of  us  on  the  other  side  —  we 
so  seldom  really  get  a  common  voice." 

"  The  League  of  Nations  was  a  thundering  good 
idea,"  Nigel  declared,  "  but  it  belongs  to  Utopia 
and  not  to  this  vulgar  planet." 

"  Just  so,"  Chalmers  rejoined,  "  and  yet  you  are 
about  the  only  nation  who  ever  took  it  into  her 
bosom  and  suckled  it.  To  be  perfectly  frank  with 
you,  now,  what  other  nation  in  the  world  is  there, 
except  yours,  which  is  obeying  the  conventions 
strictly?  I  tell  you  frankly,  we  keep  our  eye  on 
Japan,  and  we  build  a  good  many  commercial  ships 
which  would  astonish  you  if  you  examined  them 
thoroughly.  Our  National  Guard,  too,  know  a  bit 
more  about  soldiering  than  their  grandfathers. 
You  people,  on  the  other  hand,  seem  to  have  become 
infatuated  pacifists.  I  can't  tell  tales  out  of  school, 
but  I  don't  like  the  way  things  are  going  on  east 
wards.  Asia  means  something  different  now  that 
that  amazing  fellow,  Prince  Shan,  has  made  a  great 
nation  of  China." 

"  I  am  entirely  in  accord  with  you,"  Nigel  agreed, 
"  but  what  is  one  to  do  about  it  ?  Our  present  Gov 
ernment  has  a  big  majority,  trade  at  home  and 
abroad  is  prosperous,  the  income  tax  is  down  to  a 
shilling  in  the  pound  and  looks  like  being  wiped  out 
altogether.  Everybody  is  fat  and  happy." 


56     THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

I* 

"  Just  as  they  were  in  1914,"  Chalmers  remarked 
significantly. 

"  More  so,"  Dorminster  asserted.  "  In  those  days 
we  had  our  alarmists.  Nowadays,  they  too  seem 
to  have  gone  to  sleep.  My  uncle " 

"  Your  uncle  was  an  uncommonly  shrewd  man," 
Chalmers  interrupted.  "  I  was  going  to  talk  about 
him." 

"  After  lunch,"  Nigel  suggested,  rising  to  his  feet. 
"  Here  come  my  cousin  and  some  of  her  tennis  friends. 
Karschoff  is  lunching  with  us,  too.  You  know  him, 
don't  you?  Come  along  and  I'll  introduce  you  to 
the  others." 

It  was  a  very  cheerful  party  who,  after  a  few 
minutes  under  the  trees,  strolled  into  luncheon  and 
took  their  places  at  the  round  table  reserved  for 
them  at  the  end  of  the  room.  Maggie  at  once  took 
possession  of  Chalmers. 

"I  have  been  so  anxious  to  meet  you,  Mr. 
Chalmers,"  she  said.  "  They  tell  me  that  you  rep 
resent  the  modern  methods  in  American  diplomacy, 
and  that  therefore  you  have  been  made  first  secretary 
over  the  heads  of  half  a  dozen  of  your  seniors.  How 
they  must  dislike  you,  and  how  clever  you  must 
bef" 

"  I  don't  know  that  I'm  so  much  disliked,"  the 
young  man  answered,  with  a  twinkle  in  his  eyes, 
"but  I  flatter  myself  that  I  have  brought  a  new 
note  into  diplomacy.  I  was  always  taught  that  there 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN     57 

were  thirty-seven  different  ways  of  telling  a  lie, 
which  is  to  state  a  diplomatic  fact.  I  have  swept 
them  all  away.  I  tell  the  truth." 

"  How  daring,"  Maggie  murmured,  "  and  how 
wonderfully  original!  What  should  you  say,  now, 
if  I  asked  you  if  my  nose  wanted  powdering?  " 

"  I  should  start  by  saying  that  the  question  was 
outside  the  sphere  of  my  activities,'*  he  decided.  "  I 
should  then  proceed  to  add,  as  a  private  person, 
that  a  little  dab  on  the  left  side  would  do  it  no  harm." 

"  I  begin  to  believe,"  she  confessed,  "  that  all  I 
have  heard  of  you  is  true." 

"  Tell  me  exactly  what  you  have  heard,"  he 
begged.  "Leave  out  everything  that  isn't  nice.  I 
thrive  on  praise  and  good  reports." 

"  To  begin  with,  then,  that  you  are  an  extraor 
dinarily  shrewd  young  man,"  she  replied,  "  that  you 
speak  seven  languages  perfectly  and  know  your  way 
about  every  capital  of  Europe,  and  that  you  have 
ideas  of  your  own  as  to  what  is  going  to  happen 
during  the  next  six  or  seven  years." 

"  You've  been  moving  in  well-informed  circles," 
he  admitted.  "  Now  shall  I  proceed  to  turn  the 
tables  upon  you?  " 

"  You  can't  possibly  know  anything  about  me," 
she  declared  confidently. 

"  I  could  tell  you  what  I've  discovered  from  per 
sonal  observation,"  he  replied. 


58  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

"  That  sounds  like  compliments  or  candour,"  she 
murmured.  "  I'm  terrified  of  both." 

"  Well,  I  guess  I'm  not  out  to  frighten  you,"  he 
assured  her.  "  I'll  keep  the  secrets  of  my  heart  hid 
den —  until  after  luncheon,  at  any  rate — and  just 
ask  you  —  how  you  enjoyed  your  stay  in  Berlin?  " 

Maggie's  manner  changed.    She  lowered  her  voice. 

"  In  Berlin?  "  she  repeated. 

"  In  the  household  of  the  erstwhile  leather 
manufacturer,  the  present  President,  Herr  Essen- 
dorf.  I  hope  you  liked  those  fat  children.  They 
always  seemed  to  me  loathsome  little  brats." 

"  What  do  you  know  about  my  stay  in  Berlin?  " 
she  demanded. 

"  Everything  there  is  to  be  known,"  he  answered. 
"  To  tell  you  the  truth,  our  people  there  were  a  trifle 
anxious  about  you.  I  was  the  little  angel  watch 
ing  from  above." 

"  You  are,  without  a  doubt,"  Maggie  pronounced, 
"  a  most  interesting  young  man.  We  will  talk  to 
gether  presently." 

"  A  hint  which  sends  me  back  to  my  mutton,"  the 
young  man  observed.  "  Dorminster,"  he  added,  turn 
ing  to  his  host,  "  I  heard  the  other  day,  on  very 
good  authority,  that  you  were)  thinking  of  writing 
a  novel.  If  you  are,  study  the  lady  who  has  just 
entered.  There  is  a  type  for  you,  an  intelligence 
which  might  baffle  even  your  attempts  at  analysis." 

Naida,  escorted  by  her  father  and  Immelan,  took 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN     59 

her  place  at  an  adjacent  table.  She  bowed  to  Nigel 
and  Karschoff  before  sitting  down,  and  her  eyes 
travelled  over  the  rest  of  the  party  with  interest. 
Then  she  recognised  Maggie  and  waved  her  hand. 

"  Immelan  is  a  very  constant  admirer,"  Prince 
Karschoff  remarked,  a  little  uneasily. 

"  Is  that  her  father?  n  Maggie  asked. 

The  Prince  nodded. 

"  He  is  one  of  the  ambassadors  of  commerce  from 
my  country,"  he  said.  "  In  place  of  diplomacy,  he 
superintends  the  exchange  of  shipping  cargoes  and 
talks  freights.  I  suppose  Immelan  and  he  are  all 
the  time  comparing  notes,  but  I  scarcely  see  where 
my  dear  friend  Naida  comes  in." 

"  There  is  still  the  oldest  interest  in  the  world 
for  her  to  fall  back  upon,"  Chalmers  murmured. 
"  One  hears  that  Immelan  is  devoted." 

"  Scandalmonger!"  the  Prince  declared  severely. 
"  Young  man  from  the  New  World,"  he  proceeded, 
"  get  on  with  your  lunch  and  drink  your  iced  water. 
Let  the  vision  of  Chose  two  remind  you  that  it  was 
your  people  who  foisted  the  League  of  Nations  upon 
us,  and  be  humble,  even  sorrowful,  when  you  view 
one  of  the  sad  results." 

"  I  can't  be  responsible,  directly  or  indirectly,  for 
a  political  flirtation,"  Chalmers  grumbled.  "  Be 
sides,  why  should  there  be  any  politics  about  it  at 
all?  Mademoiselle  Karetsky  is  quite  attractive 


60  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

enough  to  turn  the  head  even  of  a  seasoned  old 
boulevardier  like  you,  Prince." 

"  That  young  man,*'  Karschoff  said  deliberately, 
"  will  find  himself  before  long  face  to  face  with  a 
blighted  career.  He  has  no  respect  for  age,  and  he 
is  shockingly  lacking  in  finesse.  All  the  same,  on 
one  point  I  am  agreed.  I  don't  think  there  is  a  man 
breathing  who  could  resist  Naida  if  she  wished  to 
call  him  to  her." 

The  little  party  broke  up  presently  and  wan 
dered  out  into  the  gardens.  They  sat  for  a  while 
upon  the  lawn,  drinking  their  coffee  and  exchanging 
greetings  with  acquaintances.  In  the  distance,  the 
orchestra  was  playing  soft  music,  with  a  fine  regard 
for  the  atmosphere  of  the  pleasant,  almost  languor 
ous  spring  afternoon.  Everywhere  were  signs  of 
contentment,  even  gaiety,  and  here  the  alien  streak 
of  unfamiliar  newcomers  was  far  less  pronounced. 
When  the  time  came  for  tennis,  Chalmers  led  the 
way  with  Maggie.  As  soon  as  they  were  out  of  hear 
ing  of  the  others,  she  turned  towards  him  a  little 
abruptly. 

"  Tell  me  exactly  what  you  know  about  my  stay 
in  Berlin,"  she  demanded. 

"  Everything,"  he  answered  gravely. 

"You  mean?" 

"  I  mean  that  the  New  World  to-day  has  pro 
gressed  where  the  Old  World  seems  to  have  been 
stricken  with  a  terrible  blindness.  Our  secret-service 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN     61 

system  has  never  been  better,  and  frankly  I  hear 
many  things  which  I  don't  like.  I  am  going  to  talk 
to  Lord  Dorminster  this  afternoon  very  seriously,  but 
in  the  meantime  I  wanted  to  speak  to  you.  I  heard  a 
rumour  that  you  thought  of  going  back  to  Berlin." 

"  I  don't  know  how  you  heard  it,  but  the  rumour 
is  not  altogether  untrue,"  she  admitted.  "I  have 
not  yet  made  up  my  mind." 

"  Don't  go,"  he  begged. 

"  You  think  they  really  do  know  all  about  me?  " 

"  I  know  that  they  do.  I  don't  mind  telling  you 
that  you  had  the  shave  of  your  life  on  the  Dutch 
frontier  last  time,  and  I  don't  mind  telling  you,  also, 
that  we  had  two  of  our  men  shadowing  you.  One 
of  them  acted  on  his  own  initiative,  or  you  would 
never  have  crossed  the  frontier." 

"  I  rather  wondered  why  they  let  me  out,"  she 
observed.  "  Perhaps  you  can  explain  why  Frau 
Essendorf  keeps  on  writing  to  me  under  my  pseudo 
nym  of  *  Miss  Brown  '  and  to  my  reputed  address  in 
Lincolnshire,  begging  me  to  return." 

"  I  could  tell  you  that,  too,"  he  replied.  "  They 
want  you  back  in  Berlin." 

"  They  really  do  know,  then,  that  I  brought  over 
the  dispatch  from  Atcheson?  "  she  asked. 

"  They  know  it,"  he  assured  her.  "  They  know, 
too,  that  it  was  chiefly  a  wasted  labour.  Their  Lon 
don  agents  saw  to  that." 


62  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  • 

"  Perhaps,"  she  suggested,  "  you  know  who  their 
London  agents  are?  " 

"  Sooner  or  later  in  our  conversation/'  he  re 
marked,  "  we  were  bound  to  arrive  at  a  point 

"  Come  along  and  let  us  make  up  a  set  then,"  she 
intervened. 


CHAPTER  VII 

Naida,  deserted  by  her  father,  who  had  found  a 
taxicab  to  take  him  back  to  the  purlieus  of  Picca 
dilly  and  auction  bridge,  sauntered  along  at  the  back 
of  the  tennis  nets  until  she  arrived  at  the  court 
where  Nigel  and  his  party  were  playing. 

"  I  should  like  to  watch  this  game  for  a  few  min 
utes,"  she  told  her  companion.  "  The  men  are  such 
opposite  types  and  yet  both  so  good-looking.  And 
Lady  Maggie  fascinates  me." 

Immelan  fetched  two  chairs,  and  they  settled  down 
to  watch  the  set.  Nigel,  with  his  clean,  well-knit 
figure,  looked  his  best  in  spotless  white  flannels. 
Chalmers,  a  more  powerful  and  muscular  type,  also 
presented  a  fine  appearance.  The  play  was  fast 
and  sometimes  brilliant.  Nigel  had  Maggie  for  a 
partner,  and  Chalmers  one  of  her  friends,  and  the 
set  was  as  nearly  equal  as  possible.  Naida  leaned 
forward  in  her  chair,  following  every  stroke  with 
interest. 

"  I  find  this  most  fascinating,"  she  murmured. 
"  I  hope  that  Lord  Dorminster  and  his  cousin  will 
win.  Your  sympathies,  of  course,  are  on  the  other 
side." 


64  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

"  You  are  right,"  Immelan  assented.  "  My  sym 
pathies  are  on  the  other  side." 

There  was  a  lull  in  the  game  for  a  moment  or  two. 
The  sun  was  troublesome,  and  the  players  were 
changing  courts.  Naida  turned  towards  her  com 
panion  thoughtfully. 

"  My  friend,"  she  said,  glancing  around  as  though 
to  be  sure  that  they  were  not  overheard,  "  there  are 
times  when  you  move  me  to  wonder.  In  the  small 
things  as  well  as  the  large,  you  are  so  unchanging. 
I  think  that  you  would  see  an  Englishman  die, 
whether  he  were  your  friend  or  your  enemy,  very 
much  as  you  kick  a  poisonous  snake  out  of  your 
path." 

"  It  is  quite  true,"  was  the  calm  reply. 

"  But  America  was  once  your  enemy,"  she  con- 
.tinued,  watching  Chalmers*  powerful  service. 

"  With  America  we  made  peace,"  he  explained. 
"  With  England,  never.  If  you  would  really  appre 
ciate  and  understand  the  reason  for  that  undying 
hatred  which  I  and  millions  of  my  fellow  country 
men  feel,  it  will  cost  you  exactly  one  shilling.  Go 
to  any  stationer's  and  buy  a  copy  of  the  Treaty  of 
Versailles.  Read  it  word  by  word  and  line  by  line. 
It  is  the  most  brutal  document  that  was  ever 
printed.  It  will  help  you  to  understand." 

She  nodded  slowly. 

"  Paul  always  declared,"  she  said,  "  that  in  those 
days  England  had  no  statesmen  —  no  one  who  could 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  65 

feel  what  lay  beyond  the  day-by-day  horizon.  When 
I  tliink  of  that  Treaty,  my  friend,  I  sympathise  with 
you.  It  is  not  a  great  thing  to  forge  chains  of 
hate  for  a  beaten  enemy." 

"  If  you  realise  this,  are  you  not  then  our 
friend?  "  Immelan  asked. 

She  appeared  for  a  few  moments  to  be  engrossed 
in  the  tennis.  Her  companion,  however,  waited  for 
her  answer. 

"  In  a  way,"  she  acknowledged,  "  I  find  something 
magnificent  in  your  wonderfully  conceived  plans  for 
vengeance,  and  in  the  spirit  which  has  evolved  and 
kept  them  alive  through  all  these  years.  Then,  on 
the  other  hand,  I  look  at  home,  and  I  ask  myself 
whether  you  do  not  make  what  they  would  call  over 
here  a  cat's-paw  of  my  country." 

"  Ours  is  the  most  natural  and  most  beneficial  of 
all  possible  alliances,"  Immelan  insisted.  "  Germany 
and  Russia,  hand  in  hand,  can  dominate  the  world." 

"  I  am  not  sure  that  it  is  an  equal  bargain,  though, 
which  you  seek  to  drive  with  us,"  she  said.  "  Ger 
many  aims,  of  course,  at  world  power,  but  you  are 
still  fettered  by  the  terms  of  that  Treaty.  You  can 
not  build  a  great  fleet  of  warships  or  aeroplanes ;  you 
cannot  train  great  armies ;  you  cannot  lay  up  for 
yourselves  all  the  store  that  is  necessary  for  a  suc 
cessful  war.  So  you  bring  your  brains  to  Russia, 
and  you  ask  us  to  do  these  things ;  but  Russia  does 
not  aim  at  world  power.  Russia  seeks  only  for 


66  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

a  great  era  of  self-development.  She,  too,  has  a 
mighty  neighbour  at  her  gates.  I  am  not  sure  that 
your  barg-ain  is  &  fair  one." 

"  It  is  the  first  time  that  I  have  heard  you  talk 
like  this,"  Immelan  declared,  with  a  little  tremor  in 
his  tone. 

"  I  have  been  in  England  twice  during  the  last 
few  months,"  Naida  said.  "  You  know  very  well  at 
whose  wish  I  came.  I  have  been  studying  the  con 
ditions  here,  studying  the  people  so  far  as  I  can.  I 
find  them  such  a  kindly  race.  I  find  their  present 
Government  so  unsuspicious,  so  genuinely  altruistic. 
After  all,  that  Treaty  belongs  to  an  England  that 
has  passed.  The  England  of  to-day  would  never 
go  to  war  at  all.  They  believe  here  that  they  have 
solved  the  problem  of  perpetual  peace." 

Immelan  smiled  a  little  bitterly. 

"  Dear  lady,"  he  said,  "  if  I  lose  your  help,  if  you 
go  back  to  Petrograd  and  talk  to  Paul  Matinsky  as 
you  are  talking  to  me,  do  you  know  that  you  will 
break  the  heart  of  a  nation?  " 

She  shook  her  head. 

"  Paul  does  not  look  upon  me  as  infallible,"  she 
protested.  "  Besides,  there  are  other  considerations. 
And  now,  please,  we  will  talk  of  the  tennis.  I  do 
not  know  whether  it  is  my  fancy,  but  that  man 
Ikhere  to  your  left,  in  grey,  seems  to  me  to  be  taking 
an  interest  in  our  conversation.  He  cannot  pos- 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  67 

sibly  overhear,  and  he  has  not  glanced  once  in  our 
direction,  yet  I  have  an  instinct  for  these  things." 

Immelan  glanced  in  the  direction  of  the  stranger, 
—  a  quiet-looking,  spare  man  dressed  in  a  grey 
tweed  suit,  clean-shaven  and  of  early  middle-age. 
There  was  nothing  about  his  appearance  to  distin 
guish  him  from  a  score  or  more  of  other  loiterers. 

"  You  are  quite  right,"  her  companion  admitted. 
"  One  should  not  talk  of  these  things  even  where  the 
birds  may  listen,  but  it  is  so  difficult.  As  for  that 
man,  he  could  not  possibly  hear,  but  there  might 
be  others.  One  passes  behind  on  the  grass  so  noise 
lessly." 

They  relapsed  into  silence.  Naida,  leaning  a  little 
forward,  became  once  more  engrossed  in  the  play. 
Her  eyes  were  fixed  upon  Nigel.  It  was  his  move 
ments  which  she  followed,  his  strokes  which  she 
usually  applauded.  Immelan  sat  by  her  side  and 
watched. 

"  They  are  well  matched,"  he  remarked  presently. 

"  Mr.  Chalmers  has  a  wonderful  service,"  she  de 
clared,  "  but  Lord  Dorminster  has  more  skill.  Oh, 
bravo ! " 

The  set  at  that  moment  was  finished  by  a  back 
handed  return  from  Nigel,  which  skimmed  over  the 
net  at  a  great  pace,  completely  out  of  reach  of  the 
opposing  couple.  The  players  strolled  across  to 
the  seats  under  the  trees.  Naida  smiled  at  Nigel, 
and  he  came  over  to  her  side.  Once  again  he  was 


68  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

conscious  of  that  peculiar  sense  of  pleasure  and  well- 
being  which  he  felt  in  her  company. 

"  You  play  tennis  very  well,  Lord  Dorminster," 
she  said. 

"  I  found  inspiration,"  he  answered. 

"  In  your  partner?  " 

"  Maggie  is  always  charming  to  play  with.  I  was 
thinking  of  the  onlookers." 

"  Mr.  Immelan  is  very  interested  in  tennis,"  she 
remarked,  with  a  smile  which  challenged  him. 

"And  you?" 

"  Even  more  so." 

"  Tell  me  about  games  in  Russia,"  he  begged,  seat 
ing  himself  on  the  grass  by  her  side. 

"  We  have  none,"  she  replied.  "  I  learnt  my 
tennis  at  Cannes,  where,  curiously  enough,  I  saw 
you  play  three  years  ago." 

"  You  were  there  then?  "  he  asked  with  interest. 

"  For  a  few  days  only.  We  were  motoring  from 
Spain  to  Monte  Carlo.  Cannes  was  very  crowded, 
but  you  see  I  remembered." 

Her  voice  seemed  to  have  some  lingering  charm 
in  it,  some  curiously  potent  suggestion  of  personal 
interest  which  stirred  his  pulses.  He  looked  up  and 
met  her  eyes.  For  a  moment  the  world  of  tennis 
fields,  of  pleasant  chatter  and  of  holiday-makings, 
passed  away.  He  rose  abruptly  to  his  feet.  This 
time  he  avoided  looking  at  her. 

"  You  must  come  over  and  speak  to  Maggie,"  he 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN     69 

begged.  "  Perhaps  Mr.  Immelan  will  spare  you  for 
a  few  moments." 

Immelan  bowed,  sphinxlike  but  coldly  furious. 
The  two  strolled  away  together. 

When  the  next  set  was  over,  Naida,  who  had  re 
joined  her  companion,  had  disappeared.  On  one  of 
their  vacated  chairs  was  seated  the  quiet-looking 
stranger  in  grey.  Chalmers  passed  his  arm  through 
Nigel's  and  led  him  in  that  direction. 

"  I  want  you  two  to  know  each  other,"  he  said. 
"  Jesson,  this  is  Lord  Dorminster  —  Mr.  Gilbert 
Jesson  —  Lord  Dorminster." 

The  two  men  shook  hands,  Nigel  a  little  vaguely. 
He  was  at  first  unable  to  place  this  newcomer. 

"  Mr.  Jesson,"  Chalmers  explained,  dropping  his 
voice  a  little,  "  was  a  highly  privileged  and  very 
much  valued  member  of  our  Intelligence  Department, 
until  he  resigned  a  few  months  ago.  I  think  that  if 
you  could  spare  an  hour  or  two  any  time  this  eve 
ning,  Dorminster,  it  would  interest  you  very  much 
to  know  exactly  the  reason  for  Mr.  Jesson's  resig 
nation." 

"  I  should  be  very  pleased  indeed,"  Nigel  replied. 
"  Won't  you  both  come  and  dine  in  Belgrave  Square 
to-night?  I  was  going  to  ask  you,  anyhow,  Chal 
mers.  Naida  Karetsky  has  promised  to  come,  and 
my  cousin  will  be  hostess." 

"  It  will  give  me  very  great  pleasure,**  Jesson 
acquiesced.  "  You  will  understand,"  he  added,  "  that 


70  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

the  information  which  Mr.  Chalmers  has  just  given 
you  concerning  myself  is  entirely  confidential." 

Nigel  nodded. 

"  We  three  will  have  a  little  talk  to  ourselves 
afterwards,"  he  suggested.  "  At  eight  o'clock  — 
Number  17,  Belgrave  Square." 

Jesson  strolled  away  after  a  little  desultory  con 
versation.  Chalmers  looked  after  him  thoughtfully. 

"  Harmless-looking  chap,  isn't  he?  "  he  observed. 
"  Yet  I'll  let  you  in  on  this,  Dorminster:  there  isn't 
another  living  person  who  knows  so  much  of  what 
is  going  on  behind  the  scenes  in  Europe  as  that  man." 

"Why  has  he  chucked  his  job,  then?  "  Nigel  en 
quired. 

"  He  will  tell  you  that  to-night,"  was  Chalmers' 
quiet  reply. 


CHAPTER 


"  I  don't  think  I  shall  marry  you,  after  all," 
Maggie  announced  that  evening,  as  she  stood  looking 
at  herself  in  one  of  the  gilded  mirrors  with  which 
the  drawing-room  at  Belgrave  Square  was  adorned. 

"  Why  not?  "  Nigel  asked,  with  polite  anxiety. 

"  You  are  exhibiting  symptoms  of  infidelity,"  she 
declared.  "  Your  flirtation  with  Naida  this  after 
noon  was  most  pronounced,  and  you  went  out  of  your 
way  to  ask  her  to  dine  to-night." 

"  I  like  that  !  "  Nigel  complained.  "  Supposing  it 
were  true,  I  should  simply  be  obeying  orders.  It 
was  you  who  incited  me  to  devote  myself  to  her." 

"  The  sacrifices  we  women  make  for  the  good  of 
our  countr}T,"  Maggie  sighed.  "  However,  you 
needn't  have  taken  me  quite  so  literally.  Do  you  ad 
mire  her  very  much,  Nigel  ?  " 

He  smiled.  His  manner,  however,  was  not  alto 
gether  free  from  self-consciousness. 

"  Of  course  I  do,"  he  admitted.  "  She's  a  per 
fectly  wonderful  person,  isn't  she?  Let's  get  out  of 
this  Yictorian  environment,"  he  added,  looking 
around  the  huge  apartment  with  its  formal  arrange 
ment  of  furniture  and  its  atmosphere  of  prim  but 


72     THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

faded  elegance.  "  We'll  go  into  the  smaller  room 
and  tell  Brookes  to  bring  us  some  cocktails  and 
cigarettes.  Chalmers  won't  expect  to  be  received 
formally,  and  Mademoiselle  Karetsky  will  appreci 
ate  the  cosmopolitan  note  of  our  welcome." 

"We  do  look  a  little  too  domestic,  don't  we?" 
Maggie  replied,  as  she  passed  through  the  portiere 
which  Nigel  was  holding  up.  "  I'm  not  at  all  sure 
that  I  ought  to  come  and  play  hostess  like  this,  with 
out  an  aunt  or  anything.  I  must  think  of  my  repu 
tation.  I  may  decide  to  marry  Mr.  Chalmers,  and 
Americans  are  very  particular  about  that  sort  of 
thing." 

"  From  what  I  have  seen  of  him,  I  should  think 
that  Chalmers  would  make  you  an  excellent  hus 
band,"  Nigel  declared,  as  he  rang  the  bell.  "  You 
need  a  firm  hand,  and  I  should  think  he  would  be 
quite  capable  of  using  it." 

"  You  take  the  matter  far  too  calmly,"  she  ob 
jected.  "  I  can  assure  you  that  I  am  getting 
peevish.  I  hate  all  Russian  women  with  creamy 
complexions  and  violet-coloured  eyes." 

"  They  are  wonderful  eyes,"  Nigel  declared,  after 
he  had  given  Brookes  an  order. 

Maggie  looked  at  him  curiously. 

"  Naida  is  for  your  betters,  sir,"  she  reminded 
him.  "  You  must  not  forget  that  she  is  to  rule  over 
Russia  some  day." 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN     73 

"  Just  at  present,"  Nigel  observed,  "  Paul  Matin- 
sky  has  a  perfectly  good  wife  of  his  own." 

"  An  invalid." 

"  Invalids  always  live  long." 

"  Presidents  and  emperors  can  always  get  di 
vorces,"  Maggie  insisted,  "  especially  in  this  irre 
ligious  age." 

"  Matinsky  isn't  that  sort,"  Nigel  said  cheerfully. 
"  Even  an  old  gossip  like  Karschoff  calls  him  a 
purist,  and  you  yourself  have  spoken  of  his  prin 
ciples." 

Maggie  shrugged  her  shoulders. 

"  All  right,"  she  remarked.  "  If  you  are  deter 
mined  to  rush  into  danger,  I  suppose  you  must. 
There  is  just  one  more  point  to  be  considered, 
though.  I  suppose  you  know  that  if  you  succeed 
any  farther  with  Naida,  you  will  introduce  a  per 
sonal  note  into  our  coming  struggle." 

"  What  do  you  mean?  "  Nigel  demanded. 

"  Why,  Immelan,  of  course,"  she  replied.  "  He's 
head  over  ears  in  love  with  Naida.  Any  one  can 
see  that." 

Nigel  laughed  scornfully. 

"  My  dear  child,"  he  protested,  "  can  you  imagine 
a  woman  like  Naida  thinking  seriously  of  a  fellow 
like  Immelan? — a  scheming,  Teutonic  adventurer, 
without  even  the  breeding  of  his  class !  " 

Maggie  laughed  softly  for  several  moments. 

"  My  dear  Nigel,"  she  exclaimed,  "  what  a  luxury 


74     THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

to  get  at  the  man  of  you !  I  haven't  seen  your  eyes 
flash  like  that  for  ages.  The  cocktails,  thank  good 
ness  !  Shake  one  for  me  till  it  froths  all  the  way 
up  the  glass,  please,  and  then  give  me  a  cigarette.'* 

Nigel  obeyed  orders,  helped  himself,  and  glar.ced 
at  the  clock  as  Brookes  left  the  room. 

"  How  nice  of  you  to  come  half  an  hour  early, 
Maggie !  "  he  remarked. 

She  made  a  little  grimace. 

"  The  first  time  you  have  noticed  it,"  she  said 
dolefully.  "  Do  you  realise,  Nigel,  that  it  is  nearly 
a  week  since  you  proposed  to  me  ?  Apart  from  your 
penchant  for  Naida,  don't  you  really  want  to  marry 
me  any  more?  " 

He  came  across  the  room  and  stood  looking  down 
at  her  thoughtfully.  She  was  wearing  a  somewhat 
daringly  fashioned  black  lace  gown,  which  showed 
a  good  deal  of  her  white  shoulders  and  neck.  Her 
brown  hair  was  simply  but  artistically  arranged. 
She  was  piquante,  alluring,  with  a  provocative  smile 
at  the  corners  of  her  lips  and  a  challenging  gleam 
in  her  eyes.  The  daintiness  and  femininity  of  her 
were  enthralling. 

"  You  would  make  an  adorable  wife,"  he  reflected. 

"  For  some  one  else?  " 

"  An  unspeakable  proposition,"  he  assured  her. 

"  You're  very  nice-looking,  Nigel,"  she  murmured. 

**  You're  terribly  attractive,  Maggie !  " 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  75 

"  Then  why  is  it,"  she  sighed,  "  that  we  neither  of 
us  want  to  marry  the  other?  " 

"  If  a  serious  proposition  would  really  be  of  in 
terest  to  you,"  he  began, 

She  made  a  little  grimace. 

"  You  heard  them  coming,"  she  interrupted. 

The  three  expected  guests  arrived  almost  together, 
bringing  with  them,  at  any  rate  so  far  as  Chalmers 
and  Naida  were  concerned,  an  atmosphere  of  light- 
heartedness  which  was  later  on  to  make  the  little 
dinner  party  a  complete  success.  Naida,  too,  was 
in  black,  a  gown  simpler  than  Maggie's  but  full  of 
distinction.  She  wore  no  jewellery  except  a  won 
derful  string  of  pearls.  Her  black  hair  was  brushed 
straight  back  from  her  forehead  but  drooped  a  little 
over  her  ears.  She  seemed  to  bring  with  her  a  larger 
share  of  girlishness  than  any  of  them  had  previously 
observed  in  her,  as  though  she  had  made  up  her  mind 
for  this  one  evening  to  cast  herself  adrift  from  the 
graver  cares  of  life  and  to  indulge  in  the  frivolities 
which  after  all  were  the  heritage  of  her  youth.  She 
sat  at  Nigel's  right  hand  and  plied  him  with  questions 
as  to  the  lighter  side  of  his  life,  —  his  favourite 
sport,  books,  and  general  occupation.  She  gave  evi 
dences  of  humour  which  delighted  everybody,  and 
Nigel,  though  he  would  at  times  have  welcomed,  and 
did  his  best  to  initiate,  an  incursion  into  more 
serious  subjects,  found  himself  compelled  to  admire 
the  tact  with  which  she  continually  foiled  him. 


76  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

"  It  is  a  mistake,"  she  declared  once,  "  to  believe 
that  a  woman  is  ever  serious  unless  she  is  forced  to 
be.  All  our  natural  proclivities  are  towards  gaiety. 
We  are  really  butterflies  by  instinct,  and  we  are  at 
our  best  when  we  are  natural.  Don't  you  agree  with 
me,  Maggie  ?  " 

"  From  the  bottom  of  my  heart,"  Maggie  assented. 
"  Nothing  but  conscience  ever  induces  me  to  pull  a 
long  face  and  turn  my  thoughts  to  serious  things. 
And  I  haven't  a  great  deal  of  conscience." 

"  So  you  see,"  Naida  continued,  smiling  up  at  her 
host,  "  when  you  try  to  get  a  woman  to  talk  politics 
or  sociology  with  you,  you  are  brushing  a  little  of 
the  down  off  her  wings.  We  really  want  to  be  told 
—  other  things." 

"  I  should  imagine,"  he  replied,  "  that  my  sex  fre 
quently  indulged  you." 

"  Not  so  much  as  I  should  desire,"  she  assured 
him.  "  I  have  somehow  or  other  acquired  an  unde 
served  reputation  for  brains.  In  Russia  especially, 
when  I  meet  a  stranger,  they  don't  even  look  at  my 
frock  or  the  way  my  hair  is  done.  They  plunge  in 
stead  into  a  subject  of  which  I  know  nothing  — 
philosophy  or  history,  or  international  politics." 

"  Do  you  know  nothing  of  international  politics?  " 
Nigel  asked. 

"  A  home  thrust,"  she  declared,  laughing.  "  I 
suppose  that  is  a  subject  upon  which  I  have  some 
glimmerings  of  knowledge.  Really  not  very  much, 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  77 

though,  but  then  I  have  a  theory  about  that.  I 
think  sometimes  that  the  clearest  judgments  are 
formed  by  some  one  who  comes  a  little  fresh  to  a 
subject,  some  one  who  hasn't  been  dabbling  in  it  half 
their  lifetime  and  acquired  prejudices.  Do  you 
always  provide  strawberries  for  your  guests,  Lord 
Dorminster?  If  so,  I  should  like  to  come  and  live 
here." 

"  If  you  will  promise  to  come  and  live  here,"  he 
replied,  "  I  will  provide  strawberries  if  I  have  to 
start  a  nursery  garden  in  Jersey." 

"  Maggie,"  Naida  announced  across  the  table, 
"  Lord  Dorminster  has  proposed  to  me.  The  matter 
of  strawberries  has  brought  us  together.  I  don't 
think  I  shall  accept  him.  There  are  no  means  of 
making  him  keep  his  bargain." 

"  He'd  make  an  awfully  good  husband,"  Maggie 
declared.  "  If  no  one  else  wants  me,  I  shall  probably 
marry  him  myself  some  day." 

Naida  shook  her  head. 

"  Lord  Dorminster  is  more  my  type,"  she  de 
clared.  "  Besides,  you  have  had  your  chance  if  you 
really  wanted  him.  I  have  a  great  friend  in  Russia 
who  prophesies  that  I  shall  never  marry.  That  does 
not  please  me.  I  think  not  to  be  married  is  the 
worst  fate  that  can  happen  to  any  woman." 

"  The  remedy,"  Nigel  told  her,  "  is  in  your  own 
hands." 

Jesson,  quieter  than  the  others,  was  still  an  inter- 


78     THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

esting  personality,  often  intervening  with  a  shrewd 
remark  and  listening  to  the  sallies  of  the  others  with 
a  humorous  gleam  in  his  spectacle-shielded  eyes. 
When  at  last  the  girls  left  them  for  a  time,  Nigel 
led  the  way  at  once  into  the  library,  where  coffee 
and  liqueurs  were  served. 

"  I  expect  the  others  will  find  their  way  here  in  a 
few  minutes,"  he  said,  as  the  door  closed  behind 
Brookes  and  his  satellite.  "  You  had  something  to 
say  to  me,  Chalmers,  about  Mr.  Jesson  here." 

"  All  that  I  have  to  say  is  in  the  nature  of  a  testi 
monial,"  the  young  American  replied.  "  Jesson  was 
easily  one  of  our  best  men  in  Europe.  He  resigned 
a  few  months  ago  simply  because  he  wants  a  job 
with  you  fellows." 

"  I  don't  quite  understand,"  Nigel  began. 

"  Let  me  explain,"  Jesson  begged.  "  I  spent  the 
last  three  years  poking  about  Europe,  and  so  far 
as  the  United  States  is  concerned,  there's  nothing 
doing.  My  reports  aren't  worth  much  more  than 
the  paper  they  are  written  on,  and  while  I'm  drawing 
my  money  from  Washington,  it's  not  my  business 
to  collect  information  that  affects  other  countries. 
That's  why  I've  sent  in  my  resignation.  There  are 
great  events  brewing  eastwards,  Lord  Dorminster, 
and  I  want  to  take  a  hand  in  the  game." 

"  Do  you  want  to  work  for  us  ?  "  Nigel  asked. 

"  You're  right,"  was  the  quiet  reply.  "  I  guess 
that's  how  I've  figured  it  out.  You  see,  I'm  one  of 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  79 

those  Americans  who  still  consider  themselves  half 
English.  Next  to  the  United  States,  Great  Britain 
is  the  country  for  me.  I  know  what  I'm  talking 
about,  Lord  Dorminster,  and  I've  come  to  the  con 
clusion  that  there's  a  lot  of  trouble  in  store  for  you 
people." 

"  I'm  pretty  well  convinced  of  that  myself,"  Nigel 
agreed,  "  but  you  know  how  things  are  with  us.  We 
have  a  democratic  Government  who  have  placed  their 
whole  faith  in  the  League  of  Nations,  and  who  are 
absolutely  and  entirely  .anti-militarist.  On  paper, 
the  governments  of  Russia,  Germany,  and  most  of 
the  other  countries  of  Europe,  are  of  the  same  ilk. 
Some  of  us  —  my  uncle  was  one  —  who  have  studied 
history  and  who  know  something  of  the  science  of 
international  politics,  realise  perfectly  well  that  no 
Empire  can  be  considered  secure  under  such  condi 
tions.  This  country  swarms  with  foreign  secret- 
service  men.  What  they  are  planning  against  us, 
Heaven  knows !  " 

"  Heaven  and  Naida  Karetsky,"  Chalmers  inter 
vened  softly. 

"  You  believe  that  she  is  our  enemy?  "  Nigel  asked, 
with  a  look  of  trouble  in  his  eyes. 

"  She  is  Immelan's  friend,"  Chalmers  reminded 
him. 

"  There  was  a  man  named  Atcheson,"  Jesson  be 
gan  quietly 

Nigel  nodded. 


8o  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

"  He  was  one  of  the  men  my  uncle  sent  out.  The 
first  one  was  stabbed  in  Petrograd.  Jim  Atcheson 
was  poisoned  and  died  in  Berlin." 

"  There  was  rather  a  scare  in  a  certain  quarter 
about  Atcheson,"  Jesson  observed.  "  He  was  sup 
posed  to  have  got  a  report  through  to  the  late  Lord 
Dorminster." 

"  He  got  it  through  all  right,"  Nigel  replied. 
"  My  uncle  was  busy  decoding  it,  seated  in  this 
room,  at  that  table,  when  he  died." 

"  His  death  was  very  sudden,"  Jesson  ventured. 

"  I  have  not  the  faintest  doubt  but  that  he  was 
murdered,"  Nigel  declared.  "  The  document  upon 
which  he  was  working  disappeared  entirely  except  for 
one  sheet." 

"  You  have  that  one  sheet  ?  "  Jesson  asked  eagerly. 

Nigel  produced  it  from  his  pocketbook,  smoothed 
it  out,  and  laid  it  upon  the  table. 

"  There  are  two  things  worth  noticing  here,"  he 
pointed  out.  "  The  first  is  that  the  actual  name  of 
a  town  in  Russia  is  given,  and  a  telephone  number 
in  London.  Kroten  I  have  looked  up  on  the  map. 
It  seems  to  be  an  unimportant  place  in  a  very 
desolate  region.  The  telephone  number  is  Oscar 
Imm  elan's." 

"  That  is  interesting,  though  not  surprising," 
Jesson  declared.  "  Immelan,  as  you  of  course  know, 
is  one  of  your  enemies,  one  of  those  who  are  working 
in  this  country  for  purposes  of  his  own.  But  as 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN     81 

regards  Kroten,  may  I  ask  where  you  obtained  your 
information  about  the  place?  " 

Nigel  dragged  down  the  atlas  and  showed  them 
the  paragraph.  Jesson  read  it  with  a  faint  smile 
upon  his  lips. 

"  I  fancy,"  he  remarked,  "  that  this  is  a  little  out 
of  date.  I  should  like,  if  you  have  no  objection,  to 
start  for  Kroten  this  week." 

"  Good  heavens !    Why  ?  "  Nigel  exclaimed. 

"  I  can  scarcely  answer  that  question,"  Jesson 
said.  "  I  am  like  a  man  with  a  puzzle  board  and  a 
heap  of  loose  pieces.  Kroten  is  one  of  those  pieces, 
but  I  haven't  commenced  the  fitting-in  process  yet. 
Here,"  he  said,  "  is  as  much  as  I  can  tell  you 
about  it.  There  are  three  cities,  situated  in  differ 
ent  countries  in  the  world,  which  are  each  in 
their  way  connected  with  the  danger  which  is  brew 
ing  for  this  country.  I  have  heard  them  described 
as  the  three  secret  cities.  One  is  in  Germany.  I 
have  been  there  at  the  risk  of  my  life,  and  I  came 
away  simply  puzzled.  Kroten  is  the  next,  and  of 
the  third  I  have  still  to  discover  the  whereabouts. 
Are  you  willing,  Lord  Dorminster,  to  let  me  act 
for  you  abroad?  I  require  no  salary  or  remunera 
tion  of  any  sort.  I  am  a  wealthy  man,  and  investiga 
tions  of  this  kind  are  my  one  hobby.  I  shall  not 
move  without  your  permission,  although  I  recognise, 
of  course,  that  your  own  position  is  entirely  an 
unofficial  one.  If  you  will  trust  me,  however,  I 


82  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

promise  that  all  my  energies  shall  be  devoted  to  the 
interests  of  this  country." 

Nigel  held  out  his  hand. 

"  It  is  a  pact,"  he  decided.  "  Before  you  leave, 
I  will  give  you  the  whole  of  my  uncle's  brief  corre 
spondence  with  Sidwell.  You  may  be  able  to  gather 
from  it  what  he  was  after.  Sidwell,  you  remember, 
was  stabbed  in  a  cafe  in  the  slums  of  Petrograd." 

"  I  remember  quite  well,"  Jesson  admitted  quietly. 
"  I  knew  Sidwell.  He  was  a  clever  person  in  his 
way,  but  he  relied  too  much  upon  disguises.  I  fancy 
that  I  hear  the  voices  of  the  ladies  coming.  I  shall 
just  have  time  to  tell  you  rather  a  curious  coinci 
dence." 

The  two  men  waited  eagerly.  Jesson  touched  with 
his  forefinger  the  sheet  of  paper  which  he  had  been 
studying. 

"  Sidwell,"  he  concluded,  "  could  not  have  been  so 
far  off  the  mark.  The  man  with  whom  he  was 
spending  the  evening  in  that  cafe  was  a  mechanic 
from  Kroten." 


CHAPTER  IX 

Naida,  early  one  afternoon,  a  few  days  after  the 
dinner  at  Belgrave  Square,  raised  herself  on  one 
elbow  from  the  sofa  on  which  she  was  resting,  glanced 
at  the  roses  and  the  card  which  the  maid  had  pre 
sented  for  her  inspection,  and  waved  them  impa 
tiently  away. 

"  The  gentleman  waits,"  the  woman  reminded  her. 

Naida  glanced  out  of  the  window  across  a  dull 
and  apparently  uninviting  prospect  of  roofs  and 
chimneys,  to  where  in  the  background  a  faint  line  of 
silver  and  a  wheeling  flock  of  sea  gulls  became  dimly 
visible  through  the  branches  of  the  distant  trees. 
The  window  itself  was  flung  wide  open,  but  the  slowly 
moving  air  had  little  of  freshness  in  it.  Sparrows 
twittered  around  the  window-sill,  and  a  little  patch 
of  green  shone  out  from  the  Embankment  Gardens. 
The  radiance  of  spring  here  found  few  opportunities. 

"  The  gentleman  waits,"  the  serving  woman  re 
peated  stolidly,  speaking  in  her  native  Russian. 

"  You  can  show  him  up,"  her  mistress  replied  a 
little  wearily. 

Immelan  entered,  a  few  moments  later,  spruce  and 
neat  in  a  well-fitting  grey  suit,  and  carrying  a  grey 


84     THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

Homburg  hat.  He  was  redolent  of  soaps  and  per 
fumes.  His  step  was  buoyant,  almost  jaunty,  yet 
in  his  blue  eyes,  as  he  bent  over  the  hand  of  the 
woman  upon  whom  he  had  come  to  call,  lurked  some 
thing  of  the  disquietude  which,  notwithstanding  his 
most  strenuous  efforts,  was  beginning  to  assert  it 
self. 

"  You  make  me  very  happy,  my  dear  Naida,"  he 
began,  "  that  you  receive  me  thus  so  informally. 
Your  good  father  is  smoking  in  the  lounge.  He  bade 
me  come  up." 

She  beckoned  him  to  a  seat. 

"  A  thousand  thanks  for  your  flowers,  my  friend," 
she  said.  "  Now  tell  me  why  you  are  possessed  to  see 
me  at  this  untimely  hour.  I  always  rest  for  a  time 
after  luncheon,  and  I  am  only  here  because  the 
sunshine  filled  my  room  and  made  me  restless." 

"  There  is  a  little  matter  of  news,"  he  announced 
slowly.  "  I  thought  it  might  interest  you.  I  hoped 
it  would." 

She  turned  her  head  and  looked  at  him. 

"  News  ?  "  she  repeated.  "  News  from  you  means 
only  one  thing.  Is  it  good  or  bad?  " 

"  It  is  good,"  he  replied,  "  because  it  saves  me  a 
long  and  tedious  journey,  because  it  saves  me  also 
from  a  separation  which  I  should  have  found  de 
testable." 

"Your  journey  to  China,  then,  is  abandoned?" 

"  It  is  rendered  unnecessary.     Prince  Shan  has 


85 

decided  after  all.  to  adhere  to  his  original  plan  and 
come  to  Europe." 

"  You  are  sure?  " 

"  I  have  an  official  intimation,"  he  replied,  "  I 
may  probably  have  to  go  to  Paris,  but  no  farther. 
It  is  even  possible  that  I  might  leave  to-night." 

She  was  genuinely  interested. 

"  There  is  no  one  in  the  whole  world,"  she  declared, 
"  whom  I  have  wanted  to  meet  so  much  as  Prince 
Shan." 

"  You  will  not  be  disappointed,"  he  promised  her. 
"  There  is  no  one  like  him.  When  he  enters  the 
room,  you  know  that  you  are  in  the  presence  of  a 
great  man.  The  three  of  us  together!  Naida,  we 
will  remake  the  map  of  the  world." 

She  frowned  a  little  uneasily. 

"  Do  not  take  too  much  for  granted,  Oscar,"  she 
enjoined.  "  Remember  that  I  am  here  to  watch  and 
to  report.  It  is  not  for  me  to  make  decisions." 

"  Then  for  whom  else  ?  "  he  demanded.  "  Paul 
Matinsky  himself  wrote  me  that  you  had  his  entire 
confidence  —  that  you  possessed  full  powers  for  ac 
tion.  You  will  not  be  faint-hearted,  Naida?  " 

"  I  shall  never  be  false  to  my  convictions,'*  she 
replied. 

There  was  a  brief  silence.  He  was  not  altogether 
satisfied,  but  he  judged  the  moment  unpropitious  for 
any  further  reference  to  the  coming  of  Prince  Shan. 

"  My  plans,  as  you  see,  are  changed,"  he  said  at 


86  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

last,  "  and  for  that  reason  a  promise  which  I  made 
to  myself  will  not  now  be  kept." 

She  rose  to  her  feet  a  little  uneasily,  shook  out 
her  fluffy  morning  gown,  and  retreated  towards  the 
door  leading  to  the  apartments  beyond.  He  watched 
her  without  movement.  She  picked  up  a  pile  of  let 
ters  from  a  table  in  the  middle  of  the  room,  glanced 
at  them,  and  threw  them  down. 

"  It  is  as  well,"  she  warned  him,  "  to  keep  all 
promises." 

"  As  for  this  one,"  he  replied,  "  I  have  no  respon 
sibility  save  to  myself.  I  absolve  myself.  I  give 
myself  permission  to  speak.  Your  father  is  even 
wishful  that  I  should  do  so.  I  crave  from  you, 
Naida,  the  happiness  which  only  you  can  bring 
into  my  life.  I  ask  you  to  become  my  wife." 

She  looked  at  him  without  visible  change  of  ex 
pression.  Her  lips,  however,  were  a  little  parted. 
The  air  of  aloofness  with  which  she  moved  through 
the  world  seemed  suddenly  more  marked.  He  would 
have  been  a  brave  man,  or  one  entirely  without  per 
ceptions,  who  would  have  advanced  towards  her  at 
that  moment. 

"  That  is  quite  impossible,"  she  pronounced. 

"  I  do  not  admit  it,"  he  contended.  "  No,  I  will 
never  admit  that.  The  fates  brought  us  together. 
It  will  take  something  stronger  than  fate  to  drive 
us  apart.  I  had  not  meant  to  speak  yet.  I  had 
meant  to  wait  until  the  great  pact  was  sealed  and 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  87 

the  glory  to  come  assured,  but  during  these  last 
few  days  I  have  suffered.  A  strange  fancy  has  come 
to  me.  I  seem  to  feel  something  between  us,  so  I 
speak  before  it  can  grow.  I  speak  because  without 
you  life  for  me  would  be  a  thing  not  worth  having. 
You  are  my  life  and  my  soul.  You  will  not  send 
me  away?  " 

Naida  was  troubled  but  unhesitating.  It  was  per 
haps  at  that  moment  that  a  hidden  characteristic 
of  her  features  showed  itself.  Her  mouth,  some 
times  almost  too  voluptuous  in  its  softness,  had 
straightened  into  a  firm  line  of  scarlet.  The  deeper 
violet  of  her  eyes  had  gone.  So  a  woman  might 
have  looked  who  watched  suffering  unmoved,  the 
woman  of  the  bull  or  prize  fight. 

"  I  am  glad  that  you  have  spoken,  Oscar,"  she 
said.  "  I  know  a  thing  now  which  has  been  a  source 
of  doubt  and  anxiety  to  me.  What  you  ask  is  im 
possible.  I  do  not  love  you.  I  shall  never  love  you. 
A  few  days  ago,  I  asked  myself  the  very  question 
you  have  just  asked  me,  and  I  could  not  answer  it. 
Now  I  know." 

Pain  and  anger  struggled  in  his  face.  He  was 
suffering,  without  a  doubt,  but  for  a  moment  it 
seemed  as  though  the  anger  would  predominate.  His 
great  shoulders  heaved,  his  hands  were  clenched  until 
the  signet  ring  on  his  left  finger  cut  into  the  flesh, 
his  eyes  were  like  glittering  points  of  fire. 


88  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

"It  is  the  old  dream  concerning  Paul?"  he  de 
manded. 

"  It  has  nothing  to  do  with  Paul,"  she  assured 
him.  "  Concerning  him  I  will  admit  that  I  have  had 
my  weak  moments.  I  think  that  those  have  passed. 
It  was  such  a  wonderful  dream,"  she  went  on  reflec 
tively,  "  the  dream  of  ruling  the  mightiest  nation  in 
the  world,  a  nation  that  even  now,  after  many  years 
of  travail,  is  only  just  finding  its  way  through  to 
the  light.  It  seemed  such  a  small  thing  that  stood 
in  the  way.  Since  then  I  have  met  Paul's  wife.  She 
does  not  understand,  but  at  least  she  loves." 

"  She  is  a  poor  fool,  no  helpmate  for  any  man," 
Immelan  declared.  "  Yet  it  is  not  his  cause  I  plead, 
but  mine.  I,  too,  can  minister  to  your  ambitions. 
Be  my  wife,  and  I  swear  to  you  that  before  five  years 
have  passed  I  will  be  President  of  the  German  Re 
public.  Germany  is  no  strange  country  to  you,"  he 
went  on  passionately.  "  It  is  you  who  have  helped 
in  the  great  rapprochement.  At  times  when  Paul 
has  been  difficult,  you  have  smoothed  the  way.  I 
would  not  speak  against  your  country,  I  would  not 
speak  against  anything  which  lies  close  to  your 
heart,  but  let  me  tell  you  that  when  the  day  of 
purification  comes,  the  day  when  God  gives  us  leave 
to  pour  out  the  vials  of  vengeance,  there  will  be  no 
prouder,  no  more  glorious  people  than  ours.  Our 
triumph  will  be  yours,  Naida.  You  yourself  will 
help  to  cement  the  great  alliance  of  these  years." 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  89 

She  shook  her  head. 

"  I  am  a  woman,"  she  said  simply.  "  Incidentally, 
I  am  a  politician  and  something  of  an  altruist,  but 
when  it  comes  to  marriage,  I  am  a  woman.  I  do 
not  love  you,  Oscar,  and  I  will  not  marry  you." 

There  Avas  a  darker  shade  upon  his  face  now. 
Unconsciously  he  had  drawn  a  little  nearer  to  her. 

"  Listen,"  he  begged ;  "  it  is  perhaps  possible  that 
I  have  not  been  mistaken  —  that  a  certain  change 
has  crept  up  in  you  even  within  the  last  few  days? 
Tell  me,  is  there  any  one  else  who  has  found  his  way 
into  your  heart?  No,  I  will  not  say  heart !  It  could 
not  be  your  heart  in  so  short  a  time.  Into  your 
fancy?  Is  there  any  one  else,  Naida,  of  whom  you 
are  thinking?  " 

"  That  is  my  concern,  Oscar,  and  mine  only,"  she 
answered  haughtily. 

A  weaker  woman  he  would  have  bullied.  His  veins 
were  filled  with  anger.  His  tongue  ached  to  spend 
itself.  Naida's  bearing  cowed  him.  She  remained 
a  dominating  figure.  The  unnatural  restraint  im 
posed  upon  himself,  however,  made  his  voice  sound 
hard  and  unfamiliar.  There  were  little  patches  of 
white  around  his  mouth;  his  teeth  showed,  when  he 
spoke,  more  than  usual. 

"  If  there  were  any  one  else,"  he  declared,  "  and 
that  some  one  else  should  chance  to  be  an  English 
man,  I  would  find  a  new  hell  for  him." 

"  There  is  no  one  else,"  she  answered  calmly,  "  but 


go  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

if  there  ever  should  be,  Oscar  Immelan,  and  if  you 
ever  interfered  with  him,  either  in  this  country  or 
any  other,  my  arm  would  follow  you  around  the 
world.  Remember  that." 

She  turned  away  for  a  moment,  eager  to  gain  a 
brief  respite  from  his  darkening  face.  When  she 
looked  around,  he  was  gone.  She  heard  his  footsteps 
passing  down  the  corridor,  the  bell  ringing  for  the 
lift,  the  .dank  of  the  gates  as  he  stepped  in.  Once 
more  shfe  gazed  out  over  the  uninspiring  prospect. 
There  was  a,  little  more  sunshine  upon  the  river; 
more  of  the  dusty  chimney-pots  seemed  bathed  in 
its  silvery  radiUnce.  As  she  stood  there,  she  felt  her 
self  growing  calmer.  The  tension  passed  from  her 
nerves.  Her  eyes  grew  soft  again.  Then  an  impulse 
came  to  her.  She  stretched  out  her  hand  for  the 
telephone  book,  turned  over  the  pages  restlessly, 
looked  through  the  "  D's  "  until  she  found  the  name 
for  which  she  was  searching.  For  a  long  time  she 
hesitated.  When  at  last  she  took  up  the  receiver 
and  asked  for  a  number,  she  was  conscious  of  a  slight 
thrill,  a  sense  of  excitement  which  in  moments  of 
more  complete  self-control  would  at  least  have  served 
as  a  warning  to  her. 


CHAPTER  X 

The  curtain  fell  upon  the  first  act  of  "  Louise." 
The  lights  were  turned  up,  the  tenseness  relaxed,  men 
made  dives  for  their  hats,  and  the  unmusical  mur 
mured  the  usual  platitudes.  Naida  leaned  forward 
from  the  corner  of  her  box  to  the  man  who  was  her 
sole  companion. 

"  Father,"  she  said,  "  I  am  expecting  a  caller 
with  whom  I  wish  to  speak  —  Lord  Dorminster.  If 
he  comes,  will  you  leave  us  alone?  And  if  any  one 
else  should  be  here,  please  take  them  away." 

"  More  mysteries,"  her  father  muttered,  not  un 
kindly.  "  Who  is  this  man  Dorminster?  " 

Naida  leaned  back  in  her  chair  and  fanned  herself 
slowly. 

"  No  one  I  know  very  much  about,"  she  acknowl 
edged.  "  I  have  selected  him  in  my  mind,  however, 
as  being  a  typical  Englishman  of  his  class.  I  wish 
to  talk  to  him,  to  appreciate  his  point  of  view.  You 
know  what  Paul  said  when  he  gave  you  the  appoint 
ment  and  sent  us  over  here :  '  Find  out  for  me  what 
sort  of  men  these  Englishmen  are.'  " 

"  Matinsky  should  know,"  her  father  observed. 
"  He  was  here  twelve  years  ago.  He  came  over  with 


92     THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

the  first  commission  which  established  regular  rela 
tions  with  the  British  Government." 

"  No  doubt,"  she  said  equably,  "  he  was  able  to 
gauge  the  official  outlook,  but  this  country,  during 
the  last  ten  years,  has  gone  through  great  vicissi 
tudes.  Besides,  it  is  not  only  the  official  outlook 
in  which  Paul  is  interested.  He  doesn't  understand, 
and  frankly  I  don't,  the  position  of  what  they  call 
over  here  '  the  man  in  the  street.'  You  see,  he  must 
be  either  a  fool,  or  he  must  be  grossly  deceived." 

"  So  far  as  my  dealings  with  him  go,  I  should  never 

"'•f  i    . 

call  the  Englishman  a  fool,"  Karetsky  confessed. 

"  There  are  degrees  and  conditions  of  fools,"  his 
daughter  declared  calmly.  "  A  man  with  a  perfectly 
acute  brain  may  have  simply  idiotic  impulses  towards 
credulity,  and  a  credulous  man  is  always  a  fool. 
Anyhow,  I  know  what  Paul  wants." 

There  was  a  knock  at  the  door.  Karetsky  opened 
it  and  stood  aside  to  let  Nigel  pass  in.  Naida  held 
out  her  hand  to  the  latter  with  a  smile. 

"  I  am  so  glad  that  you  have  come,"  she  said,  rais 
ing  her  eyes  for  a  minute  to  his.  "  Father,  you 
remember  Lord  Dorminster?  " 

The1  two  men  exchanged  a  few  commonplace  re 
marks.  Then  Karetsky  reached  for  his  hat. 

"  Your  arrival,  Lord  Dorminster,"  he  observed, 
"  leaves  me  free  to  make  a  few  calls  myself.  We  shall, 
I  trust,  meet  again." 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHA 


Nigel  murmured  a  few  courteous  words  and 
watched  the  retreating  figure  with  some  curiosity: 

"  Your  father  is  very  typical,"  he  declared.  "  He 
reminds  me  of  your  country  itself.  He  is  massive, 
has  suggestions  of  undeveloped  strength." 

"  Add  that  he  is  a  little  ponderous,"  Naida  said 
lightly,  "  slow  to  make  up  his  mind,  but  as  obstinate 
as  the  Urals  themselves,  and  you  have  described 
him.  Now  tell  me  what  you  think  of  a  young  woman 
who  rings  you  up  without  the  slightest  encourage 
ment  and  invites  you  to  come  to  the  Opera  purposely 
to  visit  her  box." 

"  I  deny  the  absence  of  encouragement,  and  I  am 
very  grateful  for  the  opportunity  of  coming,"  Nigel 
answered.  "  And  if  I  were  to  tell  you  all  that  I 
think  of  you,"  he  added,  after  a  moment's  pause, 
"it  would  take  me  a  great  deal  longer  than  this 
quarter  of  an  hour's  interval." 

These  were  their  first  few  moments  absolutely 
alone.  Neither  of  them  was  unduly  emotional, 
neither  wholly  free  from  experience,  yet  they  looked 
and  spoke  and  felt  as  though  the  coming  of  new 
things  was  at  hand.  The  atmosphere  of  music,  still 
present,  was  a  wonderful  background  to  the  intensi 
fied  sensations  of  which  both  were  conscious.  Naida 
had  the  utmost  difficulty  in  steadying  her  voice. 

"  I  wanted  to  talk  to  you  seriously  because  you 
can  help  me  very  much  if  you  will,"  she  began.  "  In 
a  sense,  I  am  over  here  upon  a  mission.  Some  of  us 


94  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

in  Russia  feel  that  your  nation  is  imperfectly  under 
stood  there.  We  are  bearing  grudges  against  you 
which  may  not  be  wholly  justified.  You  see,  to  speak 
very  plainly,  we  are  under  the  constant  influence  of 
a  people  which  cherishes  no  feelings  of  friendship 
towards  you." 

For  a  moment  the  personal  element  had  disap 
peared.  Nigel  remembered  who  his  companion  was 
and  all  that  she  stood  for.  He  drew  his  chair  a 
little  nearer  to  hers. 

"  If  you  are  looking  for  a  typical  Englishman," 
he  said,  "  I  fear  that  I  shall  be  a  disappointment  to 
you.  The  typical  Englishman  of  to-day  is  hiding  his 
head  in  the  sand.  I  am  not  disposed  to  do  anything 
of  the  sort.  I  recognise  a  great  coming  danger, 
and  I  am  afraid  of  your  country." 

"  The  attitude  of  the  official  Englishman  I  know," 
she  declared,  a  little  eagerly.  "  What  I  want  to  find 
out  is  whether  there  are  many  like  yourself,  who 
are  awake." 

"  I  am  afraid  that  I  am  in  the  minority,"  he  con 
fessed.  "  I  am  trying  to  carry  on  the  work  which 
my  uncle  commenced.  I  am  trying  to  secure  firm 
and  definite  evidence  of  a  certain  plot  which  I  be 
lieve  to  be  brewing  in  your  country  and  in  Ger 
many." 

"  Tell  me  exactly  what  you  know,"  she  begged. 

Nigel  looked  at  her  for  several  moments  in  silence. 
She  was  wearing  a  Russian  headdress,  a  low  tiara  of 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN     95 

bound  coils  of  pearls.  A  rope  of  pearls  hung  from 
her  neck.  Her  white  net.  gown  was  trimmed  with 
ermine.  At  her  first  appearance  in  'the  front  of  the 
box  she  had  created  almost  a  sensation  among  those 
to  whom  she  was  visible.  In  these  darker  shadows 
the  sensuous  disturbance  of  which  he  had  been  con 
scious  since  his  entrance  swept  over  him  once  more 
with  overmastering  power. 

"  You  are  very  beautiful,"  he  said,  a  little 
abruptly. 

"  I  am  glad  you  think  so,"  she  murmured,  with  a 
very  sweet  answering  light  in  her  eyes,  "  but  I  am 
hoping  that  you  have  other  things  to  tell  me." 

"  You  are  the  friend  of  Immelan,"  he  reminded 
her. 

"  To  some  extent,  yes,"  she  assented,  "  but  I  admit 
of  no  prejudices.  The  greatest  friend  I  have  in  the 
world  is  Paul  Matinsky,  and  it  is  at  his  wish  that  I 
am  here.  He  is  anxious  above  all  things  not  to  make 
a  mistake." 

"  Your  country  is  very  much  under  the  dominance 
of  Germany,"  he  ventured. 

"  Very  much,  I  admit,  but  not  utterly  so.  You 
must  remember  that  after  the  cataclysm  of  1917, 
Russia  has  been  born  again  in  travail  and  agony. 
No  hand  was  outstretched  to  help  her,  save  that  of 
Germany  alone,  for  her  own  sake  ultimately,  perhaps, 
but  nevertheless  with  invaluable  results  to  Russia. 
We  had  vast  resources  which  Germany  exploited, 


g6  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

magnificent  human  material  which  Germany  has 
educated  and  disciplined.  The  two  nations  have 
grown  together  for  their  common  interest.  At  the 
same  time,  Paul  Matinsky  and  very  many  others 
have  always  felt  that  there  is  one  of  Germany's  great 
ambitions  in  which  Russia  ought  not  necessarily  to 
become  involved.  I  think  —  I  hope  that  you  under 
stand  me." 

"  In  plain  words,"  Nigel  said,  "  you  refer  to  this 
projected  plan  of  isolating  England." 

"  In  plain  words,  I  do,"  she  admitted.  "  Russia's 
intentions  concerning  that  are  trembling  in  the  bal 
ance.  Germany  is  pressing  her  hard.  Nothing  will 
be  finally  decided  until  I  return  to  Petrograd.  You 
see,  I  speak  to  you  quite  openly,  for  I  myself  have 
had  some  experience  of  your  present  statesmen.  I 
believe  if  you  were  to  repeat  this  conversation  to 
any  one  of  them,  if,  even,  you  could  open  their  eyes 
to  what  is  happening,  they  would  only  shrug  their 
shoulders  and  say  that  they  relied  for  their  protec 
tion  on  the  League  of  Nations." 

"  You  are  unhappily  right,"  Nigel  groaned,  "  yet 
one  perseveres,  and  after  all  there  is  an  element  of 
mystery  about  the  whole  affair.  The  French,  as  you 
know,  have  not  imitated  our  blind  credulity.  Their 
frontier  would  seem  to  be  impregnable,  and  the  diffi 
culties  of  invading  England,  even  from  the  air,  are 
very  much  as  they  were  during  the  last  war.  It 
was  these  considerations  which  made  my  uncle  per- 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  97 

severe  in  his  attempt  at  secret-service  work  on  the 
Continent.  Everything  depends  upon  our  knowing 
exactly  what  is  in  store  for  us." 

"  And  have  you  discovered  that?  "  she  enquired. 

He  shook  his  head. 

"  Everything  that  we  have  learnt  so  far  has  been 
of  negative  value,"  he  replied.  "  The  German  citizen 
army  is  large,  but  not  threateningly  so.  So  far  as 
we  have  been  able  to  discover,  they  do  not  seem  to 
have  any  secret  store  of  guns  or  ammunition.  Their 
docks  hold  no  secrets.  Yet  we  know  that  there  is 
something  brewing.  Both  the  men  upon  whom  my 
uncle  relied  have  been  murdered." 

"  But  one  of  them  succeeded  in  getting  a  dispatch 
through,  did  he  not?  "  she  asked  quietly. 

"  Yes,  he  succeeded,"  Nigel  acknowledged.  "  My 
uncle  was  murdered,  however,  in  the  act  of  decoding 
it,  and  the  dispatch  itself  was  stolen." 

"  You  are  very  frank,"  she  said.  "  I  suppose  I 
ought  to  feel  flattered  that  you  treat  me  with  so  little 
reserve." 

"  If  you  are  a  friend  to  Germany,"  he  replied, 
"  you  probably  know  all  that  I  can  tell  you.  If  you 
are  inclined  towards  friendship  with  us,  then  it  is 
as  well  that  you  should  know  everything." 

"  That  is  reasonable,"  she  admitted.  "  Now  listen. 
This  conversation  can  only  last  a  few  minutes  longer. 
It  is  true  that  Oscar  Immelan  is  my  father's  old 
friend  and  also  mine,  but  my  judgment  in  all  mat- 


g8  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

ters  which  relate  to  the  welfare  of  my  country  is 
not  influenced  by  that  fact." 

"  There  was  a  report  once,"  Nigel  said,  taking  his 
courage  into  both  hands,  "  that  you  were  engaged  to 
be  married  to  him." 

She  looked  him  in  the  eyes.  Against  the  whiteness 
of  his  skin,  the  colour  of  her  own  seemed  more  won 
derful  than  ever. 

"  That  is  not  true,"  she  replied.  "  It  will  never 
be  true." 

"  I  am  glad,"  he  declared  fervently. 

There  was  a  brief  pause.  Both  seemed  conscious 
of  a  renewal  of  that  air  of  disturbance  which  had 
reigned  between  them  during  their  first  few  mo 
ments  alone.  It  was  Naida  who  made  an  effort  to 
restore  their  conversation  to  its  former  tone. 

"  If  Germany  has  any  scheme  against  this  coun 
try,"  she  said,  "  believe  me,  it  will  not  be  so  obvious 
as  you  seem  to  think.  It  will  be  a  scheme  which  can 
only  be  carried  out  with  the  assistance  of  other  coun 
tries,  and  that  assistance  is  not  yet  wholly  promised. 
I  cannot  betray  to  you  my  knowledge  of  certain 
things,"  she  went  on,  after  a  moment's  hesitation, 
"  but  I  can  at  least  give  you  this  warning.  It  is 
not  for  his  health  alone  that  Prince  Shan  is  flying 
from  China  to  Paris.  If  there  is  a  single  member 
of  your  Government  who  has  the  least  apprehension 
of  world  politics,  now  is  the  time  for  action." 

"  There  is  no  one,"  Nigel  answered  gloomily. 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  S::AN  99 

The  box  was  suddenly  invaded.  Karetsky  reap 
peared  with  several  other  men.  In  the  rear  of  the 
little  procession  came  Immelan.  His  face  darkened 
as  he  recognised  Nigel.  Naida  looked  across  at  him 
with  a  slight  frown  upon  her  forehead. 

"  You  have  changed  your  mind  ?  "  she  remarked. 
"  I  thought  you  were  for  Paris  to-night  ?  " 

"  A  fortunate  chance  intervened,"  Immelan  re 
plied. 

"Fortunate?" 

Immelan  watched  Nigel's  retreating  figure  with  a 
menacing  frown. 

"  I  find  it  so,"  he  replied.  "  Our  wonderful  prima 
donna  is  in  great  voice  to-night  —  and  I  like  to  be 
prepared  for  all  possible  combinations." 


CHAPTER  XI 

Maggie  came  suddenly  into  the  library  at  Belgrave 
Square,  where  Jesson,  Chalmers  and  Nigel  were  talk 
ing  together.  She  carried  in  her  hand  a  note,  which 
she  handed  to  the  latter. 

"  Naida  is  a  dear,  after  all,"  she  declared. 
"  There  is  one  person  at  least  who  does  not  wish  to 
have  me  pass  away  in  a  German  nursing  home  or 
fall  a  victim  to  Frau  Essendorf's  cooking." 

Nigel  read  the  note  aloud.  It  consisted  of  only 
a  sentence  or  two  and  was  dated  from  the  Milan 
Court  that  morning: 

Maggie  dear,  this  is  just  a  line  of  advice  from 
your  friend.     You  must  not  go  back  to  Germany. 

Naida. 

"  I  fear,"  Maggie  sighed,  "  that  my  little  expedi 
tion  is  scotched,  even  if  I  had  been  able  to  persuade 
you  others  to  let  me  go.  Every  one  seems  to  have 
made  up  their  mind  that  I  shall  not  go  to  Germany. 
It  will  be  such  a  disappointment  to  those  flaxen- 
haired  atrocities,  Gertrud  and  Bertha.  Their  so- 
much-loved  Miss  Brown  can  never  return  to  them 
again." 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN          101 

"  In  any  case,  the  game  was  scarcely  worth  the 
candle,"  Nigel  observed.  "  We  have  already  all  the 
evidence  we  require  that  some  scheme  inimical  to  this 
country  is  being  proposed  and  fostered  by  Immelan. 
Our  next  move  must  be  to  find  out  the  nature  of 
this  scheme  —  whether  it  be  naval,  military,  or 
political.  I  don't  think  Essendorf  would  be  at  all 
likely  to  give  away  any  more  interesting  informa 
tion  in  the  domestic  circle." 

"  What  are  we  all  going  to  do,  then?  "  Maggie 
asked. 

"  We  are  met  here  to  discuss  it,"  Nigel  replied. 
"  Jesson  is  off  to  Russia  this  afternoon.  I  asked 
him  to  come  round  and  have  a  few  last  words  with 
us,  in  case  there  was  anything  to  suggest  for  us 
stay-at-homes." 

"  We  shall  have  to  rely  very  largely  upon  luck," 
Jesson  declared.  "  There  are  three  places,  in  any 
of  which  we  might  discover  what  we  want  to  know. 
One  is  Kroten,  another  is  Paris,  provided  that  Prince 
Shan  really  goes  there,  and  the  third  London." 

"  London?  "  Maggie  repeated. 

"  There  are  two  people  in  London,"  Jesson  de 
clared,  "  who  know  everything  we  are  seeking  to  dis 
cover.  One  is  Immelan  and  the  other  Naida 
Karetsky." 

"  It  seems  to  me,"  Maggie  said,  "  that  if  that  is 
so,  the  place  for  us  is  where  those  two  people  are. 
What  is  the  importance  of  Kroten,  Mr.  Jesson?  " 


102         THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

"  Kroten,"  Jesson  replied,  "  is  the  second  of  what 
I  have  seen  referred  to  in  a  private  diplomatic  re 
port,  written  in  an  enemy  country,  as  the  three  mys 
tery  cities  of  the  world.  The  first  one  is  in  Germany, 
and  I  have  already  explored  it.  I  have  information, 
but  information  which  without  its  sequel  is  value 
less.  Kroten  is  the  second.  Ten  years  ago  it  was 
a  town  of  eighteen  thousand  inhabitants.  To-day 
there  are  at  least  two  hundred  thousand  people  there, 
and  it  is  growing  all  the  time." 

"  Say,  how  can  a  town  of  that  size,"  Chalmers 
enquired,  "  be  termed  a  mystery  city  in  any  sense 
of  the  word?  Travelling's  free  in  Russia.  I  guess 
any  one  that  wanted  could  take  a  ticket  to  Kroten." 

*'  A  good  many  do,"  Jesson  assented  calmly,  "  and 
some  never  come  back.  America  and  Russia  are  on 
friendly  terms,  yet  two  men  in  my  branch  of  the 
service  —  good  fellows  they  were,  too  —  started  out 
from  Washington  for  Kroten  six  months  ago. 
Neither  of  them  has  been  heard  of  since ;  neither  ever 
will  be." 

"  How's  it  done?  "  Chalmers  asked  curiously. 

"  In  the  first  place,"  Jesson  explained,  "  the  city 
itself  stands  at  the  arm  of  the  river,  in  a  sort  of 
cul-de-sac,  with  absolutely  untraversable  mountains 
on  three  sides  of  it.  All  the  roads  have  to  come 
around  the  plain  and  enter  from  eastwards.  There 
is  only  one  line  of  railway,  so  that  all  the  approaches 
into  the  city  are  easily  guarded." 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  103 

"  That's  all  right  geographically,  of  course," 
Nigel  admitted,  "  but  what  earthly  excuse  can  any 
one  make  for  keeping  tourists  or  travellers  out  of  the 
place  if  they  want  to  go  there?  " 

"  That  is  perhaps  the  most  ingenious  thing  of 
all,"  Jesson  replied.  "  You  know  that  Russia  is 
now  practically  a  tranquil  country,  but  there  are 
certain  bands  of  the  extreme  Bolshevistic  faction 
who  never  gave  in  to  authority  and  who  practically 
exist  in  the  little-known  places  by  means  of  ma 
rauding  expeditions.  The  mountains  about  Kroten 
are  supposed  to  have  been  infested  by  these 
nomadic  companies.  Whether  the  outrages  set  down 
to  them  are  really  committed  or  not,  I  don't  sup 
pose  any  one  knows,  but  my  point  of  view  is  that 
the  presence  of  these  people  is  absolutely  encouraged 
by  the  Government,  to  give  them  an  excuse  for  the 
most  extraordinary  precautions  in  issuing  passports 
or  allowing  any  one  from  the  outside  world  to  pass 
into  the  city.  If  you  get  in,  I  understand  you  are 
waited  upon  by  the  police  within  half  an  hour  and 
have  to  tell  them  the  story  of  your  past  life  and 
your  future  intentions.  After  that  you  are  allowed 
to  go  about  on  parole.  If  you  get  too  inquisitive, 
you  are  discovered  to  be  in  touch  with  the  robber 
bands,  and  —  well  —  that's  an  end  of  you." 

"  A  nice,  salubrious  spot,"  Nigel  murmured. 

"  It  sounds  most  interesting,"  Maggie  declared. 


104          THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

"  I  think  a  woman  would  be  less  likely  to  cause  sus 
picion,'*  she  added  hopefully. 

"  Utterly  out  of  the  question,"  Jesson  pronounced. 
"  Kroten  is  the  one  place  that  must  be  left  in  my 
hands.  I  know  more  about  the  getting  there  than 
any  of  you,  and  I  know  the  tricks  of  changing  my 
identity." 

"  I  should  rather  like  to  go  with  you,"  Nigel  con 
fessed. 

"  Impossible !  "  was  the  brief  reply. 

"Why?" 

Jesson  smiled. 

"  To  be  perfectly  frank,"  he  said,  "  because  you 
are  developing  an  interest  in  the  one  person  in  the 
world  who  might  give  success  over  into  our  hands. 
It  is  necessary  for  you  to  remain  where  you  can 
encourage  that  interest." 

Nigel  was  a  little  staggered. 

"  My  friendship  with  Mademoiselle  Karetsky,"  he 
protested,  "  is  scarcely  likely  to  influence  her  politi 
cal  views." 

"  I  am  a  somewhat  close  observer,"  Jesson  con 
tinued.  "  You  will  not  ask  me  to  believe  that  your 
conversation  with  mademoiselle  in  her  box  at  the 
Opera  last  night  related  all  the  time  to  —  well,  shall 
we  say  music  ?  " 

"  Nigel,  you  never  told  me  you  were  at  the  Opera," 
Maggie  intervened.  "  What  made  you  go?  " 


J 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN          105 

"  I  think  that  it  was  a  message  from  Mademoiselle 
Karetsky,"  Jesson  suggested  quietly. 

Nigel  smiled. 

"  Upon  my  word,  I  think  you're  going  to  be  a 
success,  Jesson,"  he  declared.  "  Perhaps  you  can  tell 
me  what  we  did  talk  about?  " 

"  I  believe  I  almost  could,"  was  the  calm  reply. 
"  In  any  case,  I  think  I  see  the  situation  as  it  exists. 
Mademoiselle  Karetsky  is  a  wonderful  woman.  She 
has  a  great,  open  mind.  To  a  certain  extent,  of 
course,  she  has  seen  things  from  the  point  of  view  of 
Paul  Matinsky,  Immelan,  and  that  little  coterie  of 
Russo-Germans  who  see  a  future  for  both  countries 
only  in  an  alliance  of  the  old-fashioned  order. 
Matinsky,  however,  has  always  had  his  doubts. 
That  is  why  he  sent  over  here  the  one  person  whom 
he  trusted.  Presently  she  will  make  a  report,  and 
the  whole  issue  will  remain  with  her.  Immelan  knows 
this  and  pays  her  ceaseless  court.  My  impression, 
however,  is  that  his  influence  is  waning.  I  believe 
that  to-day  he  is  terrified  at  the  bare  reflection  of 
how  much  Naida  Karetsky  knows." 

"  You  believe  that  she  does  know  exactly  what  is 
intended?  "  Nigel  asked. 

"  I  am  perfectly  certain  of  it,"  Jesson  replied. 
"  If  she  could  be  induced  to  tell  us  everything,  my 
journey  to  Kroten  might  just  as  well  be  abandoned. 
Yet  somehow  I  do  not  think  she  will  go  so  far  as 
that.  The  most  that  we  can  hope  for  is  that  she  will 


v 


io6          THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

advise  Matinsky  to  reject  Immelan's  proposals,  and 
that  she  will  perhaps  bring  some  influence  to  bear 
in  the  same  direction  upon  Prince  Shan." 

"  I  am  inclined  to  agree  with  Jesson,"  Nigel  pro 
nounced,  "  inasmuch  as  I  believe  that  Mademoiselle 
Karetsky  is  disposed  to  change  or  modify  her  views 
concerning  us.  You  see,  after  all,  this  threatened 
blow  against  England  is  purely  a  private  affair  of 
Germany's.  There  is  really  no  reason  why  Russia 
or  any  other  country  should  be  dragged  into  it.  She 
is  the  monkey  pulling  the  chestnuts  out  of  the  fire  for 
her  most  dangerous  rival." 

"  Matinsky  might  be  brought  to  think  that  way," 
Chalmers  observed,  "  but  they  say  half  the  members 
of  his  Cabinet  are  under  German  influence." 

"  If  Matinsky  believed  that,"  Nigel  declared,  "  he 
is  quite  strong  enough  to  clear  them  all  out  and 
make  a  fresh  start." 

"  In  the  meantime,"  Maggie  interposed,  "  I  should 
like  to  know  in  what  way  you  propose  to  use  poor 
little  me?  I  am  not  to  go  to  Germany,  the  man 
whom  I  at  one  time  seriously  thought  of  marrying 
is  told  off  to  engage  the  attentions  of  another  woman, 
Mr.  Jesson  here  is  going  to  Kroten,  and  he  doesn't 
show  the  slightest  inclination  to  take  me  with  him. 
Am  I  to  sit  here  and  do  nothing?  " 

"  There  remains  for  you  the  third  enterprise," 
Jesson  replied,  "  one  in  which,  so  far  as  I  can  see," 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  107 

he  continued,  with  a  smile,  "  you  have  not  the  faintest 
chance  of  success." 

"  Tell  me  what  it  is,  at  least?  "  she  begged. 

"  The  conversion  of  Prince  Shan." 

Maggie  made  a  little  grimace. 

"Aren't  you  trying  me  a  little  high?  "  she  mur 
mured. 

"  Very  high  indeed,"  Jesson  acknowledged. 
"  Prince  Shan,  for  all  his  wonderful  statesmanship 
and  his  grip  upon  world  affairs,  is  reputed  to  be 
almost  an  anchorite  in  his  daily  life.  No  woman  has 
ever  yet  been  able  to  boast  of  having  exercised  the 
slightest  influence  over  him.  At  the  same  time,  he 
is  an  extraordinarily  human  person,  and  success 
with  him  would  mean  the  end  of  your  enemies." 

"  It  sounds  a  bit  of  a  forlorn  hope,"  Maggie  re 
marked  cheerfully,  "  but  I'll  do  my  little  best." 

"  Prince  Shan  has  abandoned  his  idea  of  landing 
at  Paris,"  Jesson  continued.  "  He  is  coming  direct 
to  London.  I  have  to  thank  Chalmers  for  that  infor 
mation.  Immelan  will  meet  him  directly  he  arrives, 
and  their  first  conversations  will  make  history. 
Afterwards,  if  things  go  well,  Mademoiselle  Karet- 
sky  will  join  the  conference." 

"  I  fear,"  Maggie  sighed,  "  that  there  will  be 
difficulties  in  the  way  of  my  establishing  confidential 
relations  with  Prince  Shan." 

"  There  will  be  difficulties,"  Jesson  assented,  "  but 
the  thing  is  not  so  impossible  as  it  would  be  in  Paris. 


io8          THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

Prince  Shan  has  a  very  fine  house  in  Curzon  Street, 
which  is  kept  in  continual  readiness  for  him.  He 
will  probably  entertain  to  some  extent.  You  will 
without  doubt  have  opportunities  of  meeting  him 
socially." 

Maggie  glanced  at  herself  in  the  glass. 

"  A  Chinaman !  "  she  murmured. 

"  I  guess  that  doesn't  mean  what  it  did,"  Chalmers 
pointed  out.  "  Prince  Shan  is  an  aristocrat  and  a 
born  ruler.  He  has  every  scrap  of  culture  that  we 
know  anything  about  and  something  from  his  thou 
sand-year-old  family  that  we  don't  quite  know  how 
to  put  into  words.  Don't  you  worry  about  Prince 
Shan,  Lady  Maggie.  Ask  Dorminster  here  what 
they  called  him  at  Oxford." 

"  The  first  gentleman  of  Asia,"  Nigel  replied.  "  I 
think  he  deserves  the  title." 


CHAPTER  XH 

On  the  morning  following  the  conclave  in  Belgrave 
Square,  the  Right  Honourable  Mervin  Brown  re 
ceived  two  extremely  distinguished  visitors  in  Down 
ing  Street.  It  was  doubtful  whether  the  Prime 
Minister  was  altogether  at  his  best.  There  was  a 
certain  amount  of  irritability  rankling  beneath  his 
customary  air  of  bonhommie.  He  motioned  his  callers 
to  take  chairs,  however,  and  listened  attentively  to 
the  few  words  of  introduction  which  his  secretary 
thought  necessary. 

"  This  is  General  Dumesnil,  sir,  of  the  French 
Staff,  and  Monsieur  Pouilly  of  the  French  Cabinet. 
They  have  called  according  to  appointment,  on  Gov 
ernment  business." 

"  Very  glad  to  see  you,  gentlemen,"  was  the  Prime 
Minister's  brisk  welcome.  "  Sorry  I  can't  talk 
French  to  you.  Politics,  these  last  ten  years,  haven't 
left  us  much  time  for  the  outside  graces." 

Monsieur  Pouilly  at  once  took  the  floor.  He  was 
a  thin,  dark  man  with  a  beautifully  trimmed  black 
beard,  flashing  black  eyes,  and  thoughtful,  delicate 
features.  He  was  attired  in  the  frock  coat  and  dark 
trousers  of  diplomatic  usage,  and  he  appeared  to 


no          THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

somewhat  resent  the  brown  tweed  suit  and  soft  collar 
of  the  man  who  was  receiving  him. 

"  Mr.  Mervin  Brown,"  he  began,  "  you  will  kindly 
look  upon  our  visit  as  official.  We  are  envoys  from 
Monsieur  le  President  and  the  French  Government. 
General  Dumesnil  has  accompanied  me,  in  case  our 
conversation  should  turn  upon  military  matters  here 
or  at  the  War  Office." 

The  General  saluted.  The  Prime  Minister  bowed 
a  little  awkwardly. 

"  So  far  as  I  am  concerned,"  the  latter  declared, 
"  I  will  be  perfectly  frank  with  you  from  the  start. 
I  know  nothing  whatever  about  military  affairs.  My 
job  is  to  govern  this  country,  to  make  the  most  of 
its  resources,  and  to  bring  prosperity  to  its  citizens 
from  the  English  Channel  to  the  North  Sea.  We 
don't  need  soldiers  and  never  shall,  that  I  can  see. 
I  am  firmly  convinced  that  the  days  of  wars  are 
over.  The  government  of  every  country  in  the  world 
is  getting  into  the  hands  of  the  democracy,  and  the 
democracy  don't  want  war  and  never  did.  If  any  of 
the  more  quarrelsome  folk  on  the  continent  get  scrap 
ping,  well,  my  conception  of  my  duty  is  to  keep  out 
of  it." 

Monsieur  Pouilly  restrained  himself.  To  judge 
from  his  appearance,  however,  it  was  not  altogether 
an  easy  matter. 

"  You  belong,  sir,"  he  said,  "  to  a  type  of  states 
man  whose  rise  to  power  in  this  country  some  of  us 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN          in 

have  watched  with  a  certain  amount  of  concern,  for 
although  it  is  not  my  mission  here  to-day  to  talk 
politics,  I  am  yet  bound  to  remind  you  that  you  do 
not  stand  alone.  The  very  League  of  Nations  upon 
which  you  rely  imposes  certain  obligations  upon 
you.  some  actual,  some  understood.  It  is  to  dis 
cuss  the  situation  arising  from  your  neglect  to  make 
the  provisions  called  for  in  that  agreement  that  I  am 
here  to-day." 

Mr.  Mervin  Brown  glanced  at  some  figures  which 
his  secretary  had  laid  before  him. 

"  You  complain,  I  presume,  of  the  reduction  of 
our  standing  army  ?  "  he  observed. 

"  We  complain  of  that,"  Monsieur  Pouilly  replied, 
"  and  we  complain  also  of  the  gradually  decreasing 
interest  shown  by  your  Government  in  matters  of 
asronautics,  artillery,  and  naval  construction.  We 
learnt  our  lesson  in  1914.  If  trouble  should  come 
again,  our  country  would  once  more  be  the  sufferer. 
You  would  no  doubt  do  everything  that  was  expected 
of  you,  in  time.  Before  you  were  ready,  however, 
France  would  be  ruined.  You  entered  into  certain 
obligations  under  the  League  of  Nations.  My  Gov 
ernment  begs  to  call  your  attention  to  the  fact  that 
you  are  not  fulfilling  them." 

"  It  is  my  intention  within  the  course  of  the  next 
few  months,"  Mervin  Brown  declared,  "  to  lay  before 
the  League  of  Nations  a  scheme  for  total  disarma 
ment." 


ii2          THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

Monsieur  Pouilly  was  staggered.  A  little  excla 
mation  escaped  the  General. 

"  What  about  those  nations,"  the  latter  enquired, 
"who  were  left  outside  the  League?  What  of 
Russia,  for  instance?  " 

"  Russia  is  a  great  and  peaceful,  republic,"  Mervin 
Brown  replied.  "  All  her  efforts  are  devoted  towards 
industrial  development.  No  nation  would  have  less 
to  gain  by  a  return  to  militarism." 

"  Pardon,  monsieur,  but  how  do  you  know  any 
thing  about  Russia? "  Monsieur  Pouilly  asked. 
"  You  have  not  a  single  secret  service  agent  there, 
and  your  ambassadors  are  ambassadors  of  com 
merce." 

"  I  know  what  every  one  else  knows,"  Mervin 
Brown  declared.  "  Our  commercial  travellers  are 
our  secret  service  agents.  They  travel  where  they 
please  in  Russia." 

"  And  Germany  ?  "  the  General  queried. 

"  I  defy  you  to  say  that  there  is  the  slightest  indi 
cation  of  any  militarism  in  Germany,"  the  Prime 
Minister  insisted.  "  I  was  there  myself  only  a  few 
months  ago.  The  country  is  quiet  and  moving  on 
now  to  a  new  prosperity.  I  am  absolutely  and 
entirely  convinced  that  the  world  has  nothing  to 
fear  from  either  Russia  or  Germany." 

"  Have  you  any  theory,  sir,"  General  Dumesnil 
enquired,  "  as  to  why  Russia  refused  to  join  the 
League  of  Nations  ?  " 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN          113 

"  None  whatever,"  was  the  genial  acknowledg 
ment.  "  Russia  was  left  out  at  the  start  through 
jealous  statesmanship,  and  afterwards  she  preferred 
her  independence.  I  have  every  sympathy  with  her 
attitude." 

"  One  more  question,"  the  soldier  begged.  "  Are 
you  aware,  sir,  that  since  Japan  left  the  League  of 
Nations  on  the  excuse  of  her  isolation,  she  has  been 
building  aeroplanes  and  battleships  on  a  new  theory, 
instigated,  if  you  please,  by  China?  " 

"  And  look  at  her  last  balance  sheet  as  a  result 
of  it,"  was  the  prompt  retort.  "  If  a  nation  chooses 
to  make  herself  a  bankrupt  by  building  war  toys,  no 
one  in  the  world  can  help  her.  Legislation  of  that 
sort  is  foolish  and  simply  an  incitement  to  revolu 
tion.  Look  at  the  difference  in  our  country.  Our 
income  tax  is  practically  abolished,  our  industrial 
troubles  are  over.  Our  credit  never  stood  so  high, 
the  wealth  of  the  country  was  never  so  great.  We 
are  satisfied.  A  peaceful  nation  makes  for  peace. 
The  rattling  of  the  sabre  incites  military  disturb 
ance.  Do  not  ask  us,  gentlemen,  to  train  armies  or 
build  ships." 

"  We  ask  you  only  to  keep  your  covenant,'*  Mon 
sieur  Pouilly  pronounced  stiffly. 

"  Who  does  keep  it  ?  "  the  Prime  Minister  de 
manded.  "  The  world  is  governed  now  by  common 
sense  and  humanity.  I  look  upon  a  war  of  aggression 
on  the  part  of  any  country  as  a  sheer  impossibility." 


u4    THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

"  What  about  a  war  of  revenge?  "  the  General 
enquired  quietly. 

"  You  can  search  Germany  from  end  to  end,"  Mer- 
vin  Brown  declared,  "  and  find  no  trace  of  any  spirit 
of  the  sort.  I  am  sorry  if  I  am  a  disappointment  to 
you,  gentlemen,  but  the  present  Government  views 
your  attitude  without  sympathy.  General  Richard 
son  is  expecting  a  visit  from  you  this  morning  at  the 
War  Office,  and  he  will  give  you  any  information  you 
desire.  An  appointment  has  also  been  made  for  you 
this  afternoon  at  the  Admiralty.  You  are  doing 
me  the  honour  of  dining  with  me  here  to-morrow 
night  to  meet  certain  members  of  my  Cabinet,  and 
we  will,  if  you  choose,  discuss  the  matter  further 
then.  I  have  thought  it  best  to  place  my  views 
clearly  before  you,  however,  at  the  outset  of  your 
visit  here." 

The  Frenchmen  rose  a  few  minutes  later  and  took 
their  leave,  ceremoniously  but  with  obvious  discon 
tent.  The  Prime  Minister  leaned  back  in  his  chair 
and  awaited  his  secretary's  return  with  a  well- 
satisfied  smile.  In  a  few  minutes  the  latter  presented 
himself. 

"  Well,  Franklin,"  the  great  man  said,  "  I've  let 
them  hear  the  truth  for  once.  Plain  speaking,  eh?  " 

The  young  man  bowed. 

"  They  certainly  know  your  views,  sir." 

The  Minister  glanced  at  his  subordinate  sharply. 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN          115 

"  What's  the  matter  with  you  this  morning, 
Franklin?  "  he  demanded. 

"  There  is  nothing  the  matter  with  me,  thank  you, 
sir,"  was  the  quiet  reply. 

"  You're  not  going  to  tell  me  that  you  disapprove 
of  my  attitude?  " 

"  By  no  means,  sir,"  the  young  man  assured  his 
Chief  hastily,  — "  not  altogether,  that  is  to  say. 
At  the  same  time,  one  wonders  how  far  those  two 
men  represent  the  feeling  of  France.'* 

His  Chief  shrugged  his  shoulders. 

"  The  military  spirit  is  hard  to  kill,"  he  said.  "  It 
is  in  the  blood  of  most  Frenchmen.  They  are  not 
big  enough  to  understand  that  the  world  is  moving 
on  to  greater  things.  What  did  they  say  to  you 
before  they  left?" 

"  Nothing  much,  sir.  The  General  just  asked  me 
whether  I  thought  you  would  soon  be  content  to  leave 
London  unpoliced." 

"  What  rubbish !  Any  one  else  for  me  to  see  this 
morning?  " 

"  You  promised  to  give  Lord  Dorminster  ten 
minutes,"  the  young  man  reminded  him.  "  He  is  in 
the  anteroom  now." 

The  Prime  Minister  frowned. 

**  Dorminster,"  he  repeated.  "  He  is  a  nephew  of 
the  man  who  was  always  worrying  the  Government 
to  reestablish  the  secret  service.  I  remember  he  came 
to  see  me  the  other  day,  declared  that  his  uncle  had 


n6         THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

been  murdered,  and  a  secret  dispatch  from  Germany 
stolen.  I  wonder  he  didn't  wind  up  with  a  report 
that  the  Chinese  were  on  their  way  to  seize  Ireland ! " 

"  It  is  the  same  man,  sir." 

"  Well,  I  suppose  I'd  better  see  him  and  get  it 
over,"  his  Chief  declared  irritably.  "  If  only  one 
could  make  these  people  realize  how  far  behind  the 
times  they  are !  " 

Nigel  was  shown  in,  a  few  minutes  later.  Mr. 
Mervin  Brown  was  gracious  but  terse. 

"  I  haven't  had  the  opportunity  of  congratulating 
you  upon  becoming  one  of  our  hereditary  legislators, 
Lord  Dorminster,  since  you  took  your  seat  in  the 
House  of  Lords,"  he  said.  "  Pray  let  me  do  so 
now.  I  hope  that  we  may  count  upon  your  support." 

"  My  support,  sir,"  Nigel  replied,  "  will  be  given 
to  any  Party  which  will  take  the  urgent  necessary 
steps  to  protect  this  country  against  a  great 
danger." 

"  God  bless  my  soul ! "  the  Prime  Minister  ex 
claimed.  "  Another  of  you !  " 

"  I  can  only  guess  who  my  predecessors  were," 
Nigel  continued,  smiling,  "  but  I  will  frankly  confess 
that  the  object  of  my  visit  is  to  beg  you  to  reestab 
lish  our  secret  service  in  Germany,  Russia  and 
China." 

"  Nothing,"  the  other  declared,  "  would  induce  me 
to  do  anything  of  the  sort." 

*'  Are  you  aware,"  Nigel  enquired,  "  that  there  is 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN          117 

a  considerable  foreign  secret  service  at  work  in  this 
country  at  the  present  moment  ?  " 

"  I  am  not  aware  of  it,  and  I  don't  believe  it,"  was 
the  blunt  retort. 

"  I  have  absolute  proof,"  Nigel  insisted.  "  Not 
only  that,  but  two  ex-secret  service  men  whom  my 
uncle  sent  out  to  Gennany  and  Russia  on  his  own 
account  were  murdered  there  as  soon  as  they  began 
to  get  on  the  track  of  certain  things  which  had  been 
kept  secret.  A  report  from  one  of  these  men  got 
through  and  was  stolen  from  my  uncle's  library  in 
Belgrave  Square  on  the  day  he  was  murdered.  You 
will  remember  that  I  placed  all  these  facts  before 
you  on  the  occasion  of  a  previous  visit.'* 

Mervin  Brown  nodded. 

"  Anything  else?  "  he  asked  patiently. 

"  You  know  that  a  special  envoy  from  China  is 
on  his  way  here  at  the  present  moment  to  meet 
Imrnelan?  " 

"  Oscar  Immelan,  the  German  Commissioner?  ** 

"  The  same,"  Nigel  assented. 

"  A  most  delightful  fellow,"  the  Prime  Minister 
declared  warmly,  "  and  a  great  friend  to  this  coun 
try." 

*'  I  must  take  the  liberty  of  disagreeing  with  you," 
Nigel  rejoined,  "  because  I  know  very  well  that  he 
is  our  bitter  enemy.  Prince  Shan,  who  is  on  his  way 
from  China  to  meet  him,  is  the  envoy  of  the  one 
country  outside  Europe  whom  we  might  fear.  We 


n8          THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

sit  still  and  do  nothing.  We  have  no  means  of  know 
ing  what  may  be  plotted  against  us  here  in  London. 
At  least  a  polite  request  might  be  sent  to  Prince 
Shan  to  ask  him  to  pay  you  a  visit  and  disclose  the 
nature  of  his  conference  with  Immelan." 

"  If  he  cares  to  come,  we  shall  be  glad  to  see  him," 
Mervin  Brown  replied,  "  but  I  for  one  shall  not  go 
out  of  my  way  to  talk  politics." 

"  Do  you  know  what  politics  are,  sir? "  Nigel 
asked,  in  a  sudden  fury. 

The  Prime  Minister's  eyes  flashed  for  a  moment. 
He  controlled  himself,  however,  and  rang  the  bell. 

"  I  have  an  idea  that  I  do,"  he  answered.  "  A  few 
millions  of  my  fellow  countrymen  believe  the  same 
thing,  or  I  should  not  be  here.  I  think  that  you 
know  what  my  principles  are,  Lord  Dorminster.  I 
am  here  to  govern  this  country  for  the  benefit  of  the 
people.  We  don't  want  to  govern  any  one  else's 
country,  we  don't  want  to  meddle  in  any  one  else's 
affairs.  Least  of  all  do  we  want  to  revert  to  the 
times  when  your  uncle  was  a  young  man,  and  every 
country  in  Europe  was  sitting  with  drawn  sword, 
trusting  nobody,  fearing  everybody,  living  in  a  state 
of  nerves,  with  the  roll  of  the  drum  always  in  their 
ears.  The  best  preventative  of  war,  in  my  opinion, 
is  not  to  believe  in  it.  Good  morning,  Lord  Dor- 
minster." 

It  was  a  dismissal  against  which  there  was  no 
appeal.  Nigel  followed  the  secretary  from  the  room. 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN          119 

"  You  found  the  Chief  a  little  bit  ratty  this  morn 
ing,  I  expect,  Lord  Dorminster,"  the  latter  re 
marked.  "  We've  had  the  French  Mission  here." 

"  Mr.  Mervin  Brown  has  at  least  the  virtue  of 
knowing  his  own  mind,*'  Nigel  replied  dryly. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

The  automobile  turned  in  through  the  great  en 
trance  gates  of  the  South  London  Aeronautic 
Terminus  and  commenced  a  slow  ascent  along  the 
broad  asphalted  road  to  what,  a  few  years  ago,  had 
been  esteemed  a  new  wonder  of  the  world.  Maggie 
rose  to  her  feet  with  a  little  exclamation  of  wonder. 

"  Do  you  know  I  have  never  been  here  at  night 
before?"  she  exclaimed.  "  Isn't  it  wonderful!" 

"  Marvellous !  "  Nigel  replied.  "  It's  the  largest 
aeronautic  station  in  the  world  —  bigger,  they  say, 
than  all  our  railway  termini  put  together.  Look  at 
the  flares,  Maggie!  No  wonder  the  sky  from  the 
housetop  at  Belgrave  Square  seems  always  to  be  on 
fire  at  night !" 

They  were  approaching  now  the  first  of  the  huge 
sheds  which  were  arranged  in  circular  fashion  around 
an  immense  stretch  of  perfectly  level  asphalted 
ground.  Every  shed  was  as  big  as  an  ordinary  rail 
way  station,  its  arched  opening  framed  with  electric 
illuminations.  Inside  could  be  seen  the  crowds  of 
people  waiting  on  the  platforms;  in  many  of  them, 
the  engine  of  a  great  airship  was  already  throbbing, 
waiting  to  start.  In  the  background  was  a  huge 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN          121 

wireless  installation,  and  around,  at  regular  inter 
vals,  enormous  pillars,  on  the  top  of  which  flares 
of  different-coloured  fire  were  burning.  The  auto 
mobile  came  to  a  standstill  before  a  large  electrically 
illuminated  time  chart.  Nigel  alighted  for  a  moment 
and  spoke  to  one  of  the  inspectors. 

"  Which  station  for  the  Black  Dragon^  private 
ship  from  China  ?  "  he  enquired. 

The  man  glanced  at  the  chart. 

"  Number  seven,  on  the  other  side,"  he  replied. 
"  You  can  drive  around." 

"  How  is  she  for  time?  " 

"  She  crossed  the  North  Sea  punctually,"  he  re 
plied.  "  We  should  see  her  violet  lights  in  ten 
minutes.  Mind  the  traffic  as  you  pass  number  three. 
The  North  ship  from  Norway  is  just  in." 

Nigel  addressed  a  word  of  caution  to  the  chauffeur, 
and  they  drove  on.  From  the  first  shed  they  passed 
a  stream  of  vehicles  was  pouring  out,  —  porters 
with  luggage,  jostling  throngs  of  newly  arrived  pas 
sengers  on  their  way  to  the  Electric  Underground. 
They  drove  into  number  seven  shed,  left  the  car, 
and  walked  to  the  end  of  the  long  platform.  The 
great  arc  of  glass-covered  roof  above  them  was  bril 
liantly  illuminated,  throwing  a  queer  downward  light 
upon  the  long  line  of  waiting  porters,  the  refresh 
ment  rooms,  the  kiosks  and  newspaper  stalls.  In  the 
far  end,  a  huge  airship,  bound  for  the  East,  was 
already  filling  up.  Maggie  and  her  companion  stood 


122          THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

for  a  few  minutes  gazing  into  the  huge  void  of  space. 

"  Tell  me  about  Naida,"  the  former  begged,  a 
little  abruptly. 

"  Naida  is  a  wonderful  woman,"  Nigel  declared 
enthusiastically.  "  We  lunched  at  Giro's.  She  wore 
a  black  and  white  muslin  gown  which  arrived  this 
morning  from  Paris.  Afterwards  we  went  down 
to  Ranelagh  and  sat  under  the  trees." 

"  Throwing  yourself  thoroughly  into  your  little 
job,  aren't  you!"  Maggie  sniffed. 

"  You'll  have  a  chance  to  catch  me  up  before 
long,"  he  replied.  "  Naida  has  promised  that  she  will 
arrange  a  meeting  with  the  Prince." 

"  I  wonder  what  Oscar  Immelan  will  have  to  say 
about  it,"  Maggie  reflected. 

"  To  tell  you  the  truth,"  Nigel  said  hopefully, 
"  I  believe  that  Immelan  is  losing  ground.  His  whole 
scheme  is  too  selfish.  Of  course,  Naida  won't  dis 
cuss  these  things  with  me  in  plain  words,  but  she 
gives  me  a  hint  now  and  then.  Amongst  her  gifts, 
she  has  a  marvellous  sense  of  justice  and  a  hatred 
of  any  form  of  bribery.  That  is  where  I  feel  con 
vinced  that  she  and  Immelan  will  never  come  to 
gether.  Immelan  could  never  see  more  than  the  selfish 
side,  even  of  a  world  upheaval.  Naida  searches 
everywhere  for  motive.  She  has  the  altruistic  in 
stinct.  I  wonder  no  longer  at  Matinsky.  She  is  a 
born  ruler  herself." 

"  I'm    glad    you    are    getting    along    with    her," 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  123 

Maggie  remarked.  "Look !"  she  broke  off ,  catching 
at  his  arm.  "  The  violet  lights !  " 

High  up  in  the  sky  outside,  two  violet  specks  of 
light  suddenly  rose  and  fell  like  airballs.  A  crowd 
of  mechanics  appeared  through  subterranean  doors 
and  stood  about  in  the  vast  arena.  Very  soon  the 
airship  came  into  sight,  her  cars  brilliantly  illum 
inated.  She  circled  slowly  round  and  came  noise 
lessly  to  the  ground,  and  with  the  mechanics  running 
by  her  side,  and  her  engines  now  scarcely  audible, 
came  slowly  into  the  shed  and  to  a  standstill  by  the 
side  of  the  platform.  Maggie  and  her  companion 
stood  well  in  the  background. 

"  There  he  is,"  the  latter  whispered. 

Immelan,  suddenly  appeared  as  though  from  the 
bowels  of  the  earth,  was  shaking  hands  warmly  with 
a  tall,  slender  man  who  was  one  of  the  first  to 
descend  from  the  airship.  They  talked  rapidly  to 
gether  for  a  few  minutes.  Then  they  disappeared, 
walking  down  towards  the  luggage-clearing  station. 
Maggie  watched  the  retreating  figures  earnestly. 

"  He  doesn't  look  in  The  least  Chinese,"  she  de 
clared. 

"  I  told  you  he  didn't,"  Nigel  replied.  "  He  was 
considered  the  best-looking  man  of  his  year  up  at 
Oxford." 

Maggie  was  unusually  silent  on  their  way  back. 

"  It  was  perhaps  scarcely  worth  our  while,  this 
little  expedition  of  ours,"  Maggie  said  thoughtfully. 


124         THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

"  You're  not  sorry  that  we  came?  "  he  asked. 

She  shook  her  head.     "  I  think  not,"  she  replied. 

"  Why  only  *  think'  ?  " 

She  roused  herself  with  an  effort. 

"  I  don't  know,  Nigel,"  she  confessed.  "  I  can't 
imagine  what  is  wrong  with  me.  I  feel  shivery  — 
nervous  —  as  though  something  were  going  to 
happen." 

He  looked  at  her  curiously.  This  was  a  Maggie 
whom  he  scarcely  recognised. 

"  Presentiments  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  Absurd,  isn't  it !  "  she  replied,  Aith  a  weak  smile. 
"  I'll  get  over  it  directly.  I  don't  think  I  am  going 
to  like  Prince  Shan,  Nigel." 

"  Well,  you  haven't  been  long  making  up  your 
mind,"  he  observed.  "  I  shouldn't  have  thought  you 
had  been  able  even  to  see  his  face." 

"  I  had  a  queer,  lightning-like  glimpse  of  it,"  she 
reflected.  "  To  me  it  seemed  as  though  it  were  carved 
out  of  granite,  and  as  though  all  that  was  human 
about  him  were  the  mouth  and  the  eyes.  I  wish  he 
hadn't  been  looking." 

"  Are  you  flattering  yourself  that  he  will  recog 
nise  you?  "  Nigel  asked. 

"  I  know  that  he  will,"  she  answered  simply. 

In  a  corner  of  the  white-and-gold  restaurant  at 
the  Ritz  on  the  following  evening,  Prince  Shan  and 
Immelan  dined  tete-a-tete,  Immelan  in  the  best  of 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN          125 

spirits,  talking  of  the  pleasant  trifles  of  the  world, 
drinking  champagne  and  pointing  out  notabilities; 
Prince  Shan,  his  features  and  expression  unchang 
ing,  and  his  face  as  white  as  the  perfectly  fitting  shirt 
he  wore.  His  clothes  were  fashionable  and  distinc 
tive,  his  black  pearls  unobtrusive  but  wonderful,  his 
smoothly  brushed  dark  hair,  his  immaculate  finger 
nails,  his  skilfully  tied  tie  all  indicative  of  his  close 
touch  with  western  civilization.  There  was  nothing, 
in  fact,  except  his  sphinx-like  expression,  the  slightly 
unusual  shape  of  his  brilliant  eyes,  and  his  queer  air 
of  personal  detachment,  to  denote  the  Oriental.  He 
drank  water,  he  ate  sparingly,  he  preserved  an  al 
most  unbroken  silence,  yet  he  had  the  air  of  one 
giving  courteous  attention  to  everything  which  his 
companion  said  and  finding  interest  in  it.  Only  once 
he  asked  a  question. 

"  You  are  well  acquainted  here,  my  host,"1  he 
said.  "  You  know  the  trio  at  the  table  just  behind 
the  entrance  —  the  attractive  young  lady  with  her 
chaperon,  and  a  gentleman  who  I  rather  fancy  must 
be  an  old  college  acquaintance  whose  name  I  have 
forgotten.  Tell  me  some  more  about  them  in  their 
private  capacity,  and  not  as  saviours  of  their  coun 
try." 

Immelan  frowned  slightly  as  he  glanced  across 
the  room. 

"  There  is  not  much  to  tell,"  he  answered,  with 
out  enthusiasm.  "  The  young  lady  is,  as  you  know, 


126          THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

Lady  Maggie  Trent.  The  older  lady,  with  the  white 
hair,  is,  I  believe,  her  aunt.  The  name  of  their 
escort  is  Lord  Dorminster.  You  would  probably 
know  him  by  the  name  of  Kingley  —  he  has  only 
just  succeeded  to  the  title." 

Prince  Shan  was  looking  straight  across  the  room, 
his  eyes  travelling  over  the  heads  of  the  many  bril 
liant  little  groups  of  diners  to  rest  apparently  upon 
an  empty  space  in  the  white-and-gold  walls.  He 
had  been  a  great  traveller,  but  always  his  first  eve 
ning,  when  he  came  once  more  into  touch  with  a 
civilisation  more  meretricious  but  more  poignant 
than  his  own,  resulted  in  this  disturbing  cloud  of 
sensations.  His  companion's  voice  sounded  emptily 
in  his  ears. 

"  They  say  that  the  young  lady  is  engaged  to 
Lord  Dorminster.  That  is  only  gossip,  however." 

For  the  second  time  Prince  Shan  looked  directly 
at  the  little  group.  His  eyes  rested  upon  Maggie, 
simply  dressed  but  wonderfully  soignee,  very  allur 
ing,  laughing  up  into  the  face  of  her  escort.  Their 
eyes  did  not  actually  meet,  but  each  was  conscious 
of  the  other's  regard.  Once  more  he  felt  the  dis 
turbance  of  the  West. 

"  If  we  should  chance  to  come  together  naturally," 
he  said,  "  it  would  gratify  me  to  make  the  acquaint 
ance  of  Lady  Maggie  Trent." 


CHAPTER  XIV 

The  introduction  which  Prince  Shan  had  re 
quested  came  about  very  naturally.  The  lounge  of 
the  hotel  was  more  than  usually  crowded  that  eve 
ning,  and  the  table  towards  which  an  attentive 
maitre  d'hotel  conducted  Imraelan  and  his  companion 
was  next  to  the  one  reserved  by  Nigel.  The  trans 
ference  of  a  chair  opened  up  conversation.  Immelan 
was  bland  and  ingenuous  as  usual,  introducing  every 
one,  glad,  apparently,  to  make  one  common  party. 
Prince  Shan  remained  by  Maggie's  side  after  the 
introduction  had  been  effected.  A  chair  which  Imme 
lan  schemed  to  offer  him  elsewhere  he  calmly  refused. 

"  This  is  my  first  evening  in  London,  Lady 
Maggie,"  he  said.  "  I  am  fortunate." 

"Why?"  she  asked. 

He  looked  at  her  meditatively.  Then  he  accepted 
her  unspoken  invitation  and  seated  himself  on  the 
lounge  by  her  side. 

"  We  who  come  from  the  self-contained  countries 
of  the  world,"  he  explained,  "  and  China  is  one  of 
them,  come  always  with  the  desire  and  longing  for 
new  experiences,  new  sensations.  My  own  appetite 
for  these  is  insatiable." 


128          THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

"  And  am  I  a  new  sensation  ?  "  Maggie  asked, 
glancing  up  at  him  innocently  enough,  but  with  a 
faint  gleam  of  mockery  in  her  eyes. 

"  You  are,"  he  answered  placidly.  "  You  reveal 
—  or  rather  you  suggest  —  the  things  of  which  in 
my  country  we  know  nothing." 

"  But  I  thought  you  were  all  so  hyper-civilised 
over  there,"  Maggie  observed.  "  Please  tell  me  at 
once  what  it  is  that  I  possess  which  your  womenkind 
do  not." 

"  If  I  answered  all  that  your  question  implies," 
he  said,  "  I  should  make  use  of  speech  too  direct  for 
the  conventions  of  the  world  in  which  you  live.  I 
would  simply  remind  you  that  whereas  we  men  in 
China  may  claim,  I  think,  to  have  reached  the  same 
standard  of  culture  and  civilisation  as  Europeans, 
we  have  left  our  womenkind  far  behind  in  that  re 
spect.  The  Chinese  woman,  even  the  noble  lady,  does 
not  care  for  serious  affairs.  The  God  of  the  Moun 
tains,  as  they  call  him,  made  her  a  flower  to  pluck, 
a  beautiful  plaything  for  her  chosen  mate.  She  re 
mains  primitive.  That  is  why,  in  time,  man  wearies 
of  her,  why  the  person  of  imagination  looks  some 
times  westward,  finds  a  new  joy  and  a  strange  new 
fascination  in  a  wholly  different  type  of  femininity." 

"  But  you  have  many  European  women  now  living 
in  China,"  Maggie  reminded  him,  — "  American 
women,  too,  and  they  are  so  much  admired  every 
where." 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  129 

"  The  Chinese,  especially  we  of  the  nobility,*' 
Prince  Shan  replied,  "  are  born  with  racial  preju 
dices.  An  individual  may  forgive  an  affront,  a  na 
tion  never.  The  days  of  retaliation  by  force  of  arms 
may  indeed  have  passed,  but  the  gentleman  of  China, 
even  of  these  days,  is  not  likely  to  take  to  his  heart 
the  woman  of  America." 

"  Dear  me,"  Maggie  murmured,  "  isn't  it  rather 
out  of  date  to  persevere  in  these  ancient  feuds  ?  " 

"  Feeling  of  all  sorts  is  out  of  date,"  he  admitted 
patiently,  "  yet  there  are  some  things  which  endure. 
I  should  be  honoured  by  your  friendship,  Lady 
Maggie." 

u  This  is  very  sudden,"  she  laughed.  "  I  am  very 
flattered  —  but  what  does  it  mean?  " 

"  Permission  to  call  upon  you  —  and  your  aunt," 
he  added,  glancing  around  the  little  circle. 

"  We  shall  be  delighted,"  Maggie  replied,  "  but 
you  won't  like  my  aunt.  She  is  a  little  deaf,  and  she 
has  no  sense  of  humour.  She  has  come  to  live  with 
us  because  Lord  Dorminster  and  I  are  not  really  re 
lated,  although  we  call  ourselves  cousins,  and  I 
should  hate  to  leave  Belgrave  Square.  You  shall 
take  me  out  to  tea  to-morrow  afternoon  instead,  if 
you  like." 

A  smouldering  fire  burned  for  a  moment  in  his  eyes. 

"  That  will  make  me  very  happy,"  he  said.  "  I 
shall  attend  you  at  four  o'clock." 

Thenceforward,     conversation     became     general. 


130          THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

Prince  Shan,  with  the  air  of  one  who  has  achieved  his 
immediate  object,  left  his  place  by  Maggie's  side  and 
talked  with  grave  courtesy  to  her  aunt.  Presently 
the  little  party  broke  up,  bound,  it  seemed,  for  the 
same  theatre.  Nigel  had  become  a  little  serious. 

"  Well,  you've  made  a  good  start,  Maggie,'*  he 
remarked,  leaning  forward  in  his  place  in  the  limou 
sine. 

"  Have  I  ?  "  Maggie  answered  thoughtfully.  "  I 
wonder! " 

"  I  wish  we  could  get  at  him  in  some  different 
fashion,"  her  companion  observed  uneasily. 

"  My  dear  man,  I'm  hardened  to  these  enter 
prises,"  Maggie  assured  him.  "  I  even  let  the  Presi 
dent  of  the  German  Republic  hold  my  hand  once  when 
his  wife  wasn't  looking.  Nothing  came  of  it,"  she 
added,  with  a  little  sigh.  **  These  Germans  are  ter 
ribly  sentimental  when  it  doesn't  cost  them  anything. 
They've  no  idea  of  a  fair  exchange." 

"  By  a  *  fair  exchange  '  you  mean,"  her  aunt  sug 
gested,  a  little  censoriously,  "  that  you  expected  him 
to  barter  his  country's  secrets  for  a  touch  of  your 
fingers  ?  " 

"  Or  my  lips,  perhaps,"  Maggie  added,  with  a  lit 
tle  grimace.  "  Please  don't  look  so  serious,  Aunt. 
I'm  not  really  in  love  with  Prince  Shan,  you  know, 
and  to-night  I  rather  feel  like  marrying  Nigel,  if  I  ' 
can  get  him  back  again.  I  like  his  waistcoat  buttons, 
and  the  way  he  has  tied  his  tie." 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  131 

Too  late,  my  dear,"  Nigel  warned  her.  "  I  give 
you  formal  notice.  I  have  transferred  my  affec 
tions." 

"  That  decides  me,"  Maggie  declared  firmly.  "  I 
shall  collect  you  back  again.  I  hate  to  lose  an  ad 
mirer." 

"  The  nonsense  you  young  people  talk !  "  Mrs. 
Boiling-ton  Smith  observed,  as  they  reached  the  thea 
tre. 

Chalmers  joined  them  soon  after  they  had  reached 
their  box.  He  sank  into  the  empty  place  by  Mag 
gie's  side  which  Nigel  had  just  vacated  and  leaned 
forward  confidentially. 

"  So  you've  started  the  campaign,"  he  whispered. 

"  How  do  you  know?  "  she  enquired. 

"  I  was  at  the  Ritz  to-night,"  he  told  her,  "  at  the 
far  end  of  the  room  with  my  Chief  and  two  other 
men.  We  were  behind  you  in  the  lounge  afterwards." 

"  I  was  so  engrossed,"  Maggie  murmured. 

Chalmers  paused  for  a  moment  to  watch  the  per 
formance.  When  he  spoke  again,  his  voice,  was,  for 
him,  unusually  serious. 

"  Young  lady,"  he  said,  "  I  told  you  on  our  first 
meeting  my  idea  of  diplomacy.  Truth !  No  beating 
about  the  bush  —  just  the  plain,  unvarnished  truth! 
I  have  conceived  an  affection  for  you." 

"  Goodness  gracious ! "  Maggie  exclaimed  softly. 
"  Are  you  going  to  propose  ?  " 

"  Nothing,"  he  assured  her,  "  is  farther  from  my 


132  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

thoughts.  Lest  I  should  be  misunderstood,  let  me 
substitute  the  term  *  affectionate  interest '  for  '  affec 
tion.'  I  have  felt  uneasy  ever  since  I  saw  Prince 
Shan  watching  you  across  the  restaurant  to-night." 

"  Did  he  really  watch  me?  "  Maggie  asked  com 
placently. 

"  He  not  only  watched  you,"  Chalmers  assured 
her,  "  but  he  thought  about  you  —  and  very  little 
else." 

"  Congratulate  me,  then,"  she  replied.  "  I  am  on 
the  way  to  success." 

Chalmers  frowned. 

"  I'm  not  quite  so  sure,"  he  said.  "  You'll  think 
I'm  an  illogical  sort  of  person,  but  I've  changed  my 
mind  about  your  role  in  this  little  affair." 

"Why?" 

"  Because  I  am  afraid  of  Prince  Shan,"  he  an 
swered  deliberately. 

She  looked  at  him  from  behind  her  fan.  Her  eyes 
sparkled  with  interest.  If  there  were  any  other  feel 
ing  underneath,  she  showed  no  trace  of  it. 

"  What  a  queer  word  for  you  to  use !  " 

He  nodded. 

"  I  know  it.  I  would  back  you,  Lady  Maggie,  to 
hold  your  own  against  any  male  creature  breathing, 
of  your  own  order  and  your  own  race,  but  Prince 
Shan  plays  the  game  differently.  He  possesses  every 
gift  which  women  and  men  both  admire,  but  he  hasn't 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN          133 

our  standards.  Life  for  him  means  power.  A  wish 
for  him  entails  its  fulfilment." 

"  You  are  afraid,"  Maggie  suggested,  still  with 
the  laughter  in  her  eyes,  "  that  he  will  trifle  with  my 
affections  ?  " 

"  Something  like  that,"  he  admitted  bluntly. 
"Prince  Shan  will  be  here  for  a  week  —  perhaps  a 
fortnight.  When  he  goes,  he  goes  a  very  long  dis 
tance  away." 

"  I  may  decide  to  marry  him,"  Maggie  said. 
"  One  gets  rather  tired  here  of  the  regular  St. 
George's,  Hanover  Square,  business,  and  all  that 
comes  afterwards." 

"  Dear  Lady  Maggie,"  Chalmers  replied,  "  that 
is  the  trouble.  Prince  Shan  would  never  marry  you." 

"  Why  not?  "  she  asked  simply. 

"  First  of  all,"  Chalmers  went  on,  after  a  mo 
ment's  hesitation,  "  because  Prince  Shan,  broad- 
minded  though  he  seems  to  be  and  is  on  all  the  great 
questions  of  the  world,  still  preserves  something  of 
what  we  should  call  the  superstition  of  his  country 
and  order.  I  believe,  in  his  own  mind,  he  looks  upon 
himself  as  being  one  of  the  few  elect  of  the  earth. 
He  travels,  he  is  gracious  everywhere,  but  though 
his  manner  is  the  perfection  of  form,  in  his  heart  he 
is  still  aloof.  He  rides  through  the  clouds  from 
Asia,  and  he  leaves  always  something  of  himself  over 
there  on  the  other  side.  Let  me  tell  you  this,  Lady 
Maggie.  I  have  never  forgotten  it.  He  was  at  Har- 


134          THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

vard  in  my  year,  and  so  far  as  he  unbent  to  any  one, 
he  sometimes  unbent  to  me.  I  asked  him  once  whether 
he  were  ever  going  to  marry.  He  shook  his  head 
and  sighed.  '  I  can  never  marry,'  he  replied.  '  Why 
not  ?  '  I  asked  him.  *  Because  there  are  no  women  of 
the  Shan  line  alive,'  he  answered.  Later,  he  took 
pity  on  my  bewilderment.  He  let  me  understand. 
For  two  thousand  years,  no  Shan  has  married,  save 
one  of  his  own  line.  To  ally  himself  with  a  princess 
of  the  royal  house  of  England  would  be  a  mesalliance 
which  would  disturb  his  ancestors  in  their  graves. 
Of  course,  this  sounds  to  us  very  ridiculous,  but  to 
him  it  isn't.  It  is  part  of  the  religion  of  his  life." 

"  You  are  not  very  encouraging,  are  you?  "  Mag 
gie  remarked.  "  Perhaps  he  has  changed  since  those 
days." 

Her  companion  shook  his  head. 

"  I  should  say  not,"  he  replied,  "  the  Prince  is 
not  of  the  order  of  those  who  change." 

"  Is  it  matrimony  alone,"  she  asked,  "  which  he 
denies  himself  ?  " 

Chalmers  glanced  towards  Mrs.  Bollington  Smith, 
whose  eyes  were  closed.  Then  he  nodded  towards  the 
stage. 

"  You  see  the  woman  who  has  just  come  upon  the 
stage?" 

Maggie  glanced  downwards.  A  very  wonderful 
little  figure  in  white  satin,  lithe  and  sinuous  as  a  cat, 
Chinese  in  the  subtlety  of  her  looks,  European  in 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN          135 

her  almost  sinister  over-civilisation,  stood  smiling 
blandly  at  the  applauding  audience. 

"  La  Belle  Nita,"  Maggie  murmured.  "  I  thought 
she  was  in  Paris.  Well,  what  of  her?  " 

"  She  is  reputed  to  be  a  protegee  of  Prince  Shan. 
You  see  how  she  looks  up  at  his  box." 

Maggie  was  conscious  of  a  queer  and  almost  in 
comprehensible  stab  at  the  heart.  She  answered 
without  hesitation  or  change  of  expression,  however. 

"  The  Prince  must  be  kind  to  a  fellow  country 
woman,"  she  declared  indulgently.  "  You  are  talk 
ing  terrible  scandal." 

La  Belle  Nita  danced  wonderfully,  sang  like  a  lin 
net,  danced  again  and  disappeared,  notwithstanding 
the  almost  wild  calls  for  an  encore.  With  the  end 
of  her  turn  came  a  selection  from  the  orchestra  and 
a  general  emptying  of  the  boxes.  Presently  Chalmers 
went  in  search  of  Nigel.  A  few  moments  later  there 
was  a  knock  at  the  door.  Maggie  gripped  the  sides 
of  her  chair  tightly.  She  was  moved  almost  to  fury 
by  the  turmoil  in  which  she  found  herself.  Her  in 
vitation  to  enter  was  almost  inaudible. 

"  I  am  deserted,"  Prince  Shan  explained,  as  he 
made  his  bow  and  took  the  chair  to  which  Maggie 
pointed.  "  My  friend  Immelan  has  left  me  to  visit 
acquaintances,  and  I  chance  to  be  unattended  this 
evening.  I  trust  that  I  do  not  intrude." 

"  You  are  very  welcome  here,"  Maggie  replied. 
"  Will  you  listen  to  the  orchestra,  or  talk  to  me?  " 


136          THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

"  I  will  talk,  if  I  may,"  he  answered.  "  Lord  Dor- 
minster  is  not  with  you?  " 

"  Nigel  went  to  look  up  a  friend  whom  he  wants 
to  bring  to  supper.  He  is  one  of  those  people  who 
seem  to  discover  friends  and  acquaintances  in  every 
quarter  of  the  globe." 

"  And  to  that  fortunate  chance,"  her  visitor  con 
tinued,  dropping  his  voice  a  little,  "  I  owe  the  hap 
piness  of  finding  you  alone." 

Maggie  glanced  towards  her  aunt,  who  was  lean 
ing  back  in  her  seat. 

"  Aunt  seems  to  be  asleep,  but  she  isn't,"  she  de 
clared.  "  She  is  really  a  very  efficient  chaperon. 
Talk  to  me  about  China,  please,  and  tell  me  about 
your  Dragon  airship.  Is  it  true  that  you  have 
silver  baths,  and  that  Gauteron  painted  the  walls  of 
your  dining  salon?  " 

"  One  is  in  the  air  five  days  on  the  way  over,"  he 
answered  indifferently.  "  It  is  necessary  that  one's 
surroundings  should  be  agreeable.  Perhaps  some  day 
I  may  have  the  honour  of  showing  it  to  you.  In  the 
darkness,  and  when  she  is  docked,  there  is  little  to 
be  seen." 

She  looked  at  him  curiously. 

"  You  knew  that  I  was  there,  then  ?  " 

"  Yours  was  the  first  face  I  saw  when  I  descended 
from  the  car,"  he  told  her.  "  You  stood  apart, 
watching,  and  I  wondered  why.  I  knew,  too,  that 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN          137 

you  would  be  at  the  Ritz  to-night.  That  is  why  I 
came  there.  As  a  rule,  I  do  not  dine  in  public." 

"  How  could  you  possibly  know  that  I  was  going 
to  be  there?  "  Maggie  asked  curiously. 

"  I  sent  a  gentleman  of  my  suite  to  look  through 
the  names  of  those  who  had  booked  tables,"  he  an 
swered.  "  It  was  very  simple." 

"  It  was  only  a  chance  that  the  table  was  reserved 
in  my  name,"  she  reminded  him. 

"  It  was  chance  which  brought  us  together,"  he 
rejoined.  "  It  is  chance  under  another  name  to 
which  I  trust  in  life." 

For  the  first  time  in  her  life,  in  her  relations  with 
the  other  sex,  Maggie  felt  a  queer  sensation  which 
was  almost  fear.  She  felt  herself  losing  poise,  her 
will  governed,  her  whole  self  dominated.  Uncon 
sciously  she  drew  herself  a  little  away.  Her  eyes 
travelled  around  the  crowded  house  and  suddenly 
rested  on  the  box  which  her  visitor  had  just  vacated. 
Seated  behind  the  curtains,  but  leaning  slightly  for 
ward,  her  eyes  fixed  intently  upon  Prince  Shan,  was 
La  Belle  Nita,  a  green  opera  cloak  thrown  around 
her  dancing  costume,  a  curious,  striking  little  figure 
in  the  semi-obscurity. 

"  You  have  some  one  waiting  for  you  in  your 
box,"  Maggie  told  him. 

He  glanced  across  the  auditorium  and  rose  to  his 
feet.  She  gave  him  credit  for  the  adroitness  of  mind 


138          THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

which  rejected  the  obvious  explanation  of  her  pres 
ence  there. 

"  I  must  go,"  he  said  simply,  "  but  I  have  many 
things  which  I  desire  to  say  to  you.  You  will  not 
forget  to-morrow  afternoon  ?  " 

"  I  shall  not  forget,"  she  answered,  in  a  low  tone. 


CHAPTER  XV 

There  was  a  half  reluctant  admiration  in  Prince 
Shan's  eyes  as  he  sat  back  in  the  dim  recesses  of  his 
box  and  scrutinised  his  visitor.  La  Belle  Nita  had 
learnt  all  that  Paris  and  London  could  teach  her. 

"  You  are  very  beautiful,  Nita,"  he  said. 

"  Many  men  tell  me  so,"  she  answered. 

"  Life  has  gone  well  with  you  since  we  met  last  ?  " 
he  asked  reflectively. 

"  The  months  have  passed,"  she  replied. 

"  You  have  been  faithful?  " 

"  Fidelity  is  of  the  soul." 

He  paused,  as  though  pondering  over  her  answer. 
A  famous  French  comedian  was  holding  the  stage, 
and  the  house  rocked  with  laughter. 

"  You  have  the  same  apartment?  " 

She  pressed  the  clasp  of  a  black  velvet  bag  which 
rested  on  the  edge  of  the  box,  opened  it,  and  passed 
him  a  key. 

"  It  is  the  same." 

He  held  the  key  in  his  fingers  for  a  moment,  but  he 
had  the  air  of  a  man  to  whom  the  action  had  no 
significance. 

"  You  have  enough  money?  "  he  asked. 


140          THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

"  I  have  saved  a  million  francs,"  she  told  him.  "  I 
am  waiting  for  my  lord  to  speak  of  things  that  mat 
ter.  The  woman  in  the  box  over  there  —  who  is 
she?" 

"  An  English  spy,"  he  answered  calmly. 

She  lowered  her  eyes  for  a  moment,  as  though  to 
conceal  the  sudden  soft  flash. 

"  An  English  spy,"  she  repeated.  "  My  rival  in 
espionage." 

"  You  have  no  rival,  Nita,"  he  replied,  "  and  she 
is  in  the  opposite  camp." 

Her  two  red  lips  were  distorted  into  a  pout. 

"  Is  it  over,  my  task?  "  she  asked.  "  I  am  weary 
of  Paris.  I  love  it  over  here  better.  I  am  weary 
of  French  officers,  of  these  solemn  officials  who  come 
to  my  room  like  guilty  schoolboys,  and  who  speak  of 
themselves  and  their  importance  with  bated  breath, 
as  though  their  whisper  would  rock  the  world.  My 
master  has  enough  information?  " 

"  More  than  enough,"  he  assured  her.  "  You  have 
done  your  work  wonderfully." 

"  Shall  I  now  deal  with  her  ?  "  she  continued,  with 
a  slight,  eager  movement  of  her  head  towards  the 
opposite  box. 

He  smiled. 

"  She  is  harmless,  she  and  her  entourage,"  he  re 
plied.  "  Some  stroke  of  good  fortune  brought  them 
word  of  the  meeting  between  myself  and  Immelan,  and 
beyond  that  they  guessed  at  its  significance.  They 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  141 

were  at  the  shed  to  watch  my  arrival.  Now,  with 
their  mouths  open,  they  sit  and  wait  for  the  infor 
mation  which  they  hope  will  drop  in.  They  are  very 
ingenuous,  these  Anglo-Saxons,  but  they  are  not  dip 
lomats." 

She  turned  her  head  and  looked  across  the  audi 
torium.  Maggie  was  talking  to  a  man  whom  Nigel 
had  just  brought  in,  and  who  was  bending  over  her 
in  obvious  admiration.  Nita,  with  her  wealth  of 
cosmetics,  her  over-red  lips,  stared  curiously  at  this 
possible  rival,  with  her  clear  skin,  her  beautiful  neck 
and  shoulders,  her  hair  dressed  close  to  her  head,  her 
air  of  quiet,  almost  singular  distinction. 

"  The  young  lady,"  she  confessed,  "  wears  her 
clothes  well  for  an  English  woman.  She  is  bien 
soignee,  but  she  looks  a  little  difficult." 

His  eyes  followed  the  direction  of  hers,  and  her 
object  was  achieved.  She  read  correctly  the  light 
that  gleamed  in  them. 

"  I  may  come  to-night  ?  "  she  asked  quietly. 

He  shook  his  head. 

"  Not  again,"  he  replied. 

A  violinist  now  held  the  stage,  a  Pole  newly  come 
to  London.  La  Belle  Nita  closed  her  eyes.  For  a 
few  minutes  her  sorrow  seemed  to  throb  to  the  minor 
music  to  which  she  was  listening. 

"  For  all  my  work,  then,"  she  said  presently,  "  for 
the  suffering  and  the  risk,  there  is  to  be  nothing?  " 


142          THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

"  Is  it  nothing  for  you  to  be  invited  to  live  in 
whatsoever  manner  you  choose?  "  he  remonstrated. 

"  It  is  little,"  she  replied  steadily.  "  There  are  a 
dozen  who  would  do  this  for  me,  who  pray  every  day 
that  they  may  do  so.  What  are  all  these  things  be 
side  the  love  of  my  master?  " 

He  looked  at  her  a  little  sadly,  yet  without  any 
sign  of  real  feeling.  To  him  she  represented  nothing 
more  than  a  doll  with  brains,  from  whose  intelligence 
he  had  profited,  but  of  whose  beauty  he  was  weary. 

"  You  know  what  our  poet  says,  Nita,"  he  remind 
ed  her.  "  *  Love  is  like  the  rustling  of  the  wind  in 
the  almond  trees  before  dawn.'  We  cannot  command 
it.  It  comes  to  us  or  leaves  us  without  reason." 

She  looked  across  the  auditorium  once  more  and 
spoke  with  her  head  turned  away  from  her  com 
panion. 

"  There  is  no  one  in  the  East,"  she  said,  "  because 
those  who  write  me  weekly  send  news  of  my  lord's 
doings.  There  is  no  one  in  the  East,  because  there 
they  give  the  body  who  know  nothing  of  the  soul. 
And  so  my  Prince  is  safe  amongst  them.  But  here  — 
these  western  women  have  other  gifts.  Is  that  she, 
master  of  my  life  and  soul?  " 

*'  I  met  her  this  evening  for  the  first  time,"  he 
replied. 

She  laughed  drearily. 

"  Eyes  may  meet  in  the  street  without  speech,  a 
glance  may  burn  its  way  into  the  soul.  Once  I 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  143 

thought  that  I  might  love  again,  because  a  stranger 
smiled  at  me  in  the  Bois,  and  he  had  grey  eyes,  and 
that  look  about  his  mouth  which  a  woman  craves  for. 
He  passed  on,  and  I  forgot.  You  see,  my  lord  was 
still  there.  — So  this  is  the  woman." 

"  Who  knows  ?  "  he  answered. 

Immelan  came  into  the  box  a  little  abruptly. 
There  was  a  cloud  upon  his  face  which  he  did  his  best 
to  conceal.  Almost  simultaneously,  a  messenger 
from  behind  the  scenes  arrived  for  Nita.  She  rose 
to  her  feet  and  wrapped  her  green  cloak  closely 
around  her  lissom  figure. 

"  In  a  quarter  of  an  hour,"  she  said,  "  I  have  to 
appear  again.  It  is  to  be  good-night,  then?  " 

She  raised  her  eyes  to  his,  and  for  a  moment  the 
appeal  which  knows  no  nationality  shone  out  of  their 
velvety  depths.  She  stood  before  him  simply,  like  a 
slave  who  pleads.  Not  a  muscle  of  Prince  Shan'a 
face  moved. 

"  It  is  to  be  good-night,  Nita,"  he  answered  calmly. 

Her  head  drooped,  and  she  passed  out.  She  had 
the  air  of  a  flower  whose  petals  have  been  bruised. 
Immelan  looked  after  her  curiously,  almost  compas 
sionately. 

"  It  is  finished,  then,  with  the  little  one,  Prince?  " 
he  enquired. 

"  It  is  finished,"  was  the  calm  reply. 

Immelan  stroked  his  short  moustache  thoughtfully. 


144          THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

"  Is  it  wise?  "  he  ventured.  "  She  has  been  faith 
ful  and  assiduous.  She  knows  many  things." 

Prince  Shan's  eyes  were  filled  with  mild  wonder. 

"  She  has  had  some  years  of  my  occasional  com 
panionship,"  he  said.  "  It  is  surely  as  much  as  she 
could  hope  for  or  expect.  We  are  not  like  you 
Westerners,  Immelan,"  he  went  on.  "  Our  women  are 
the  creatures  of  our  will.  We  call  them,  or  we  send 
them  away.  They  know  that,  and  they  are  pre 
pared." 

"  It  seems  a  little  brutal,"  Immelan  muttered. 

"  You  prefer  your  method?  "  his  companion  asked. 
"  Yet  you  practise  deceit.  Your  fancy  wanders,  and 
you  lie  about  it.  You  lose  your  dignity,  my  friend. 
No  woman  is  worth  a  man's  lie." 

Immelan  was  leaning  back  in  his  chair,  gazing 
steadfastly  across  the  crowded  theatre. 

"  Your  principles,"  he  said,  "  are  suited  to  your 
own  womenkind.  La  Belle  Nita  has  become  western 
ised.  Are  you  sure  that  she  accepts  the  situation 
as  she  would  if  she  dwelt  with  you  in  Pekin  ?  " 

"  I  am  her  master,"  Prince  Shan  declared  calmly. 
"  I  have  made  no  promises  that  I  have  not  fulfilled." 

"  The  promise  between  a  man  and  a  woman  is  an 
unspoken  one,"  Immelan  persisted.  "  You  have  not 
been  in  Europe  for  five  months.  All  that  time  she 
has  awaited  you." 

"  Something  else  has  happened,"  Prince  Shan  said 
deliberately. 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN          145 

"  Since  your  arrival  in  London  ?  " 

"  Since  my  arrival  in  London,  since  I  stepped  out 
of  my  ship  last  night." 

Immelan  was  frankly  incredulous. 

"  You  mean  Lady  Maggie  Trent  ?  " 

"  Certainly !  I  have  always  felt  that  some  day  or 
other  my  thoughts  would  turn  towards  one  of  these 
strange,  western  women.  That  time  has  come.  Lady 
Maggie  possesses  those  charms  which  come  from 
the  brain,  yet  which  appeal  more  deeply  than  any 
other  to  the  subtle  desires  of  the  poet,  the  man  of 
letters  and  the  philosopher.  She  is  very  wonderful, 
Immelan.  I  thank  you  for  your  introduction." 

Immelan  ceased  to  caress  his  moustache.  He 
leaned  back  in  his  chair  and  gazed  at  his  companion. 
For  many  years  he  and  the  Prince  had  been  associ 
ates,  yet  at  that  moment  he  felt  that  he  had  not  even 
begun  to  understand  him. 

"  But  you  forget,  Prince,"  he  said,  "  that  Lady 
Maggie  and  her  friends  are  in  the  opposite  camp. 
When  our  agreement  is  concluded  and  known  to  the 
world,  she  will  look  upon  you  as  an  enemy." 

"  As  yet,"  Prince  Shan  answered  calmly,  "  our 
agreement  is  not  concluded." 

Immelan's  face  darkened.  Nothing  but  his  awe 
of  the  man  with  whom  he  sat  prevented  an  expression 
of  anger. 

"  But,  Prince,"  he  expostulated,  "  apart  from  po 
litical  considerations,  you  cannot  really  imagine  that 


146          THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

anything  would  be  possible  between  you  and  Lady 
Maggie?  " 

"  Why  not?  "  was  the  cool  reply. 

"  Lady  Maggie  is  of  the  English  nobility,"  Imme- 
lan  pointed  out.  "  Neither  she  nor  her  friends  would 
be  in  the  least  likely  to  consider  anything  in  the 
nature  of  a  morganatic  alliance." 

*'  It  would  not  be  necessary,"  Prince  Shan  de 
clared.  "  It  is  in  my  mind  to  offer  her  marriage." 

Immelan  dropped  the  cigarette  case  which  he  had 
just  drawn  from  his  pocket.  He  gazed  at  his  com 
panion  in  blank  and  unaffected  astonishment. 

"Marriage?"  he  muttered.  "You  are  not  seri 
ous  ! " 

"  I  am  entirely  serious,"  the  Prince  insisted.  "  I 
can  understand  your  amazement,  Immelan.  When 
the  idea  first  came  into  my  mind,  I  tore  at  it  as  I 
would  at  a  weed.  But  we  who  have  studied  in  the 
West  have  learnt  certain  great  truths  which  our  own 
philosophers  have  sometimes  missed.  All  that  is  best 
of  life  and  of  death  our  own  prophets  have  taught 
us.  From  them  we  have  learnt  fortitude  and  chas 
tity:  devotion  to  our  country  and  singleness  of  pur 
pose.  Over  here,  though,  one  has  also  learnt  some 
thing.  Nobility  is  of  the  soul.  A  Prince  of  the 
Shans  must  seek  not  for  the  body  but  for  the  spirit 
of  the  woman  who  shall  be  his  mate.  If  their  spirits 
meet  on  equal  terms,  then  she  may  even  share  the 
throne  of  his  life." 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  147 

Immelan  was  speechless.  There  was  something 
final  and  convincing  in  his  companion's  measured 
words.  His  own  protest,  when  at  last  he  spoke, 
sounded  paltry. 

"  But  supposing  it  is  true  that  she  is  already  en 
gaged  to  Lord  Dorminster?  " 

Prince  Shan  smiled  very  quietly. 

"  That,"  he  said,  "  can  easily  be  disposed  of." 

"  But  do  you  seriously  believe  that  you  would  be 
able  to  induce  her  to  return  with  you  to  Pekin  ?  " 
Immelan  persisted. 

At  that  moment  it  chanced  that  Maggie  turned 
her  head  and  looked  across  at  the  two  men.  Prince 
Shan  leaned  a  little  forward  to  meet  her  gaze.  His 
face  was  expressionless.  The  lines  of  his  mouth 
were  calm  and  restful,  yet  in  his  eyes  there  glowed 
for  a  single  moment  the  fire  of  a  man  who  looks  upon 
the  thing  he  covets. 

"  I  seriously  believe  it,"  he  answered  under  his 
breath. 


CHAPTER   XVI 

Maggie  leaned  back  in  her  chair  with  a  little  sigh 
of  content.  The  scarlet-coated  waiter  had  just  re 
moved  their  tea  tray,  a  pleasant  breeze  was  rustling 
through  the  leaves  of  the  trees  under  which  she  and 
Prince  Shan  were  seated.  From  the  distance  came 
the  low  strains  of  a  military  band.  Everywhere  on 
the  lawns  and  along  the  paths  men  and  women  were 
promenading. 

"  Confess  that  this  is  better  than  Rumpelmayer's 
or  the  Ritz,"  she  murmured  lazily. 

"  It  is  better,"  he  admitted.  "  It  is  a  very  won 
derful  place." 

"  You  have  nothing  like  it  in  China  ?  "  she  asked 
him. 

"  It  would  not  be  possible,"  he  answered.  "  Democ 
racy  there  is  confined  to  politics.  In  other  respects, 
our  class  prejudices  are  far  more  rigid  than  yours. 
But  then  I  see  a  great  change  in  this  country  since 
I  was  here  as  a  student." 

"  You  have  lost  your  affection  for  it,  perhaps?  " 
she  ventured,  looking  at  him  through  half-closed  eyes. 

"  On  the  contrary,"  he  assured  her,  "  my  gratitude 
towards  her  was  never  so  great  as  at  this  moment. 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  149 

Your  country  has  given  me  nothing  I  prize  so  much, 
Lady  Maggie,  as  my  knowledge  of  you." 

She  looked  away  from  his  very  earnest  eyes,  and 
the  light  retort  died  away  upon  her  lips.  The  men 
and  women  whom  she  watched  so  steadfastly  seemed 
like  puppets,  the  flowers  artificial,  the  music  unreal. 
Already  she  was  beginning  to  resent  the  influence 
which  he  was  establishing  over  her.  The  art  of 
badinage  in  which  she  was  so  proficient  stood  her  in 
no  stead.  Words,  even  the  power  of  light  speech,  had 
deserted  her. 

"  Tell  me  about  the  changes  that  you  see,"  she 
asked. 

"  Perhaps,"  he  replied,  after  a  moment's  hesita 
tion,  "  it  is  because  I  am  an  occasional  visitor  that 
differences  seem  so  marked  to  me,  but  look  at  the 
tables  there.  That  is  the  Duke  of  Illinton,  is  it  not? 
At  the  next  table,  the  man  in  the  strange  clothes 
and  uncomfortable  hat  —  it  seems  to  me  that  I  have 
seen  him  somewhere  under  different  circumstances." 

Maggie  nodded. 

"  Life  is  a  terrible  hotchpotch  nowadays,"  she 
admitted.  "  After  the  war,  our  gentry  and  aristoc 
racy  who  were  not  wealthy  were  taxed  out  of  exist 
ence.  The  profiteers,  and  the  men  who  had  made 
fortunes  during  the  war,  took  their  place.  It  has 
made  the  country  prosperous  but  less  picturesque." 

"  You  put  things  very  clearly,"  he  said.  "  To-day 
in  England  is  certainly  the  day  of  the  shopkeeper's 


150          THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

triumph.  Wealth  is  a  great  thing,  but  it  is  great 
only  for  what  it  leads  to.  I  think  your  philosopher 
of  the  streets,  your  new  school  of  politicians,  have 
alike  forgotten  that." 

"  You  have  lost  sympathy  with  England,  have  you 
not,  Prince  Shan  ?  "  Maggie  asked  him. 

He  turned  towards  her,  a  faint  but  kindly  smile 
upon  his  lips,  a  light  in  his  eyes  which  she  did  not 
altogether  understand. 

"  Lady  Maggie,"  he  said  quietly,  "  they  tell  me 
that  you  are  interested  in  the  political  side  of  my 
visit  to  this  country." 

"Who  tells  you  that?"  she  demanded.  "What 
have  I  to  do  with  politics?  " 

"  You  have  been  gifted  with  great  intelligence," 
he  continued,  "  and  you  are  the  confidante  of  your 
connection,  Lord  Dorminster.  Lord  Dorminster  is 
one  of  those  few  Englishmen  who  realise  the  ill  direc 
tion  of  the  destinies  of  this  country.  You  would 
like  to  help  him  in  his  present  very  strenuous  efforts 

to  ascertain  the  truth  as  to  certain  movements  di- 

• 

rected  against  the  British  Empire.  That  is  so,  is  it 
not?" 

"  In  plain  words,  you  are  accusing  me  of  being  a 


"  Ah,  no  !  "  he  protested  gently.  "  No  one  can 
be  a  spy  in  one's  own  country.  You  are  within  your 
rights  as  a  patriot  in  seeking  to  discover  whatever 
may  be  useful  knowledge  to  the  English  Government. 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  151 

That,  I  fear,  is  one  reason  for  your  kindness  to  me, 
Lady  Maggie.  I  trust  that  it  is  not  the  only  rea 
son." 

She  knew  better  than  to  make  the  mistake  of  de 
nial.  After  all,  it  was  an  absurdly  unequal  contest. 

"  It  is  not  the  only  reason,"  she  assured  him,  a 
little  tremulously. 

"  I  am  glad.  One  word  more  upon  this  subject, 
and  we  speak  of  other  things.  Please,  Lady  Maggie, 
do  not  stoop  to  be  hopelessly  obvious  in  these  efforts 
of  yours.  If  I  drop  a  pocketbook,  believe  me  there 
will  be  nothing  in  it  to  interest  you.  If  I  speak  with 
Immelan  or  any  other,  save  in  the  secrecy  of  my 
chamber,  there  will  be  nothing  which  it  will  be  worth 
your  while  to  overhear.  If  Lord  Dorminster  should 
decide  to  adopt  buccaneering  expedients  and  kidnap 
me,  the  attempt  would  probably  fail;  and  if  it  suc 
ceeded,  it  would  in  the  end  profit  you  nothing.  As 
you  say  over  here,  for  your  sake,  Lady  Maggie,  I 
will  lay  the  cards  upon  the  table.  I  am  discussing 
with  Oscar  Immelan,  and  indirectly  with  an  emissary 
from  Russia,  a  certain  scheme  which,  if  carried  out, 
would  certainly  be  harmful  to  this  country.  I  shall 
decide  for  or  against  that  scheme  entirely  as  it  seems 
to  me  that  it  will  be  for  the  good  or  evil  of  my  own 
country.  Nothing  will  change  my  purpose  in  that. 
In  your  heart  you  know  that  nothing  should  change 
it.  But  I  bring  to  the  deliberations  upon  which  we 
are  engaged  a  new  sentiment  towards  your  country, 


152          THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

since  I  have  known  you.  Other  things  being  equal, 
I  shall  decline  the  scheme  for  your  sake,  Lady 
Maggie." 

There  was  a  curious  quivering  at  the  corners  of 
her  mouth  and  a  lump  in  her  throat.  She  was  abso 
lutely  incapable  of  speech.  His  grave  and  reason 
able  words  seemed  to  fill  her  with  a  sense  of  import 
ance.  Her  little  efforts  and  schemes  seemed  puny, 
almost  laughable. 

"  So  you  see,"  he  continued,  after  a  moment's 
pause,  "  that  you  have  done  your  work.  You  have 
done  it  very  effectually.  You  have  created  a  strong 
sentiment  in  my  mind  in  favour  of  this  country,  a 
sentiment  which  I  did  not  previously  possess.  There 
is  no  other  way  in  which  you  could  have  influenced 
the  decision  soon  to  be  arrived  at.  In  return  for 
what  I  have  told  you,  Lady  Maggie,  I  ask  for  no 
promise,  but  I  beg  you  to  forget  the  role  you  played 
in  Germany ;  not  to  attempt  —  you  will  not  be  of 
fended? —  to  influence  events  so  far  as  I  am  con 
cerned  by  any  attempt  at  spying  upon  my  actions, 
or  by  treating  me  any  other  way  than  with  your 
whole  confidence.  I  do  not  ask  for  any  promise. 
I  have  said  something  to  you  which  has  been  cm  my 
mind.  Now  I  shall  ask  you  a  favour,"  he  declared, 
rising  to  his  feet.  "  You  will  walk  with  me  through 
the  flower  gardens  yonder.  If  there  is  one  thing  I 
miss  in  this  country  so  much  that  the  want  of  it 
makes  me  sometimes  a  little  homesick,"  he  went  on, 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  153 

as  they  moved  away  together,  "  it  is  the  perfume 
of  the  flowers  in  the  morning  and  at  night  from  the 
gardens  of  my  summer  palace.  Next  time  you  hon 
our  me  with  an  hour  or  so  of  your  time,  I  shall  ask 
you  to  let  me  bring  some  pictures  of  my  favourite 
home  in  China." 

Maggie  walked  dutifully  by  his  side,  answering 
his  frequent  questions  about  flowers  and  shrubs,  lis 
tening  while  he  told  her  about  his  white  peacocks  and 
the  tame  birds  which  were  his  own  pets.  Suddenly 
she  broke  into  a  fit  of  laughter.  She  looked  up 
into  his  grave  face,  her  eyes  imploring  him  for  sym 
pathy. 

"  I  feel  so  like  a  precocious  child,"  she  exclaimed, 
"  who  has  been  put  in  her  place !  No  one  has  ever 
turned  me  inside  out  so  skilfully,  has  made  me  feel 
buch  an  ignorant  little  donkey.  Do  you  know,  I  half 
like  you  for  it,  Prince  Shan,  and  half  detest  you." 

He  seemed  suddenly  to  become  younger,  to  meet 
her  upon  her  own  ground. 

"  Please  do  not  be  angry,"  he  begged.  "  Please 
do  not  think  that  I  look  upon  you  at  all  as  a  little 
child.  You  have  brought  something1  into  my  life  for 
which  I  have  searched  and  hoped,  and  I  am  deeply 
grateful  to  you.  Shall  I  —  go  on  ?  " 

She  caught  at  his  wrist. 

"  Please  not,"  she  begged  breathlessly.  "  Be  con 
tent  with  this  moment." 

They  had  paused  by  the  side  of  an  arbour.     She 


154  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

suddenly  felt  the  pressure  of  his  fingers  upon  her 
hand. 

"  I  shall  be  content,"  he  said,  in  a  low  tone,  the 
passion  of  which  seemed  to  throw  her  senses  into 
complete  turmoil,  "  only  when  I  have  what  my  heart 
desires.  But  I  will  wait." 

They  walked  almost  into  the  midst  of  a  little 
crowd  of  acquaintances.  Maggie  was  herself  again 
immediately.  She  chattered  away  with  Chalmers, 
and  led  him  off  to  see  a  wonderful  yellow  rose.  He 
watched  her  curiously.  When  they  found  themselves 
isolated  at  the  end  of  the  garden  path,  he  ignored 
for  a  moment  their  mission. 

"  Any  luck,  Lady  Maggie?  "  he  asked. 

She  looked  up  at  him,  and  to  his  amazement  her 
eyes  were  swimming. 

"  I  think  that  Prince  Shan  will  be  on  our  side," 
she  replied. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

Monsieur  Felix  Senn,  the  distinguished  Frenchman 
who  had  just  acquitted  himself  of  the  special  mis 
sion  which  had  brought  him  to  London,  was  a  little 
loath  to  depart  from  the  historical  chamber  in  Down 
ing  Street.  Diplomatically,  the  interview  was  over. 
The  Prime  Minister,  however,  on  this  occasion,  was 
courteous,  even  affable.  There  seemed  no  reason  for 
his  visitor  to  hurry  away. 

"  You  will  accept,  I  trust,  sir,"  the  latter  begged, 
"  this  assurance  of  my  extreme  regret  at  the  present 
unfortunate  condition  of  affairs.  I  am  one  of  those 
who  threw  his  hat  into  the  air  on  the  boulevards  in 
August,  1914,  when  the  news  came  that  your  great 
country  had  decided  to  fulfil  her  unwritten  promises 
and  in  the  cause  of  honour  had  declared  war  against 
Germany.  I  have  never  forgotten  that  moment,  sir, 
even  in  those  months  and  years  of  misunderstandings 
which  followed  the  signing  of  the  Treaty  of  Peace. 
I  was  one  of  those  who  pointed  always  to  the  sacri 
fices  which  Great  Britain  had  made  on  our  behalf, 
to  her  glorious  deeds  on  land  and  sea.  I  have  always 
been  a  friend  of  your  country,  Mr.  Mervin  Brown. 
That  is  why  I  think  I  was  chosen  to  bring  this  dis 
patch." 


156  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

"  You  are  very  welcome,"  the  Prime  Minister  as 
sured  him.  "  As  for'  the  purpose  of  your  mission,  I 
assure  you  that  I  view  it  less  seriously  than  you  do. 
Glance  with  me  at  the  position  for  a  moment.  Not 
withstanding  the  era  of  peace  which  has  sprung  up 
all  over  the  world,  owing  to  the  happy  influence  of 
the  League  of  Nations,  France  alone  has  decided  to 
follow  still  the  path  of  militarism.  Your  last  year's 
arm}7  estimates  were  staggering.  The  number  of 
men  whom  you  keep  out  of  your  factories  in  order 
that  they  may  learn  a  useless  drill  and  wear  an  un 
necessary  uniform  is,  to  the  economist,  simply  scan 
dalous.  Look  at  the  result.  Compare  our  imports 
and  exports  with  yours.  See  the  leaps  and  strides 
with  which  we  have  improved  our  financial  position 
during  the  last  ten  years.  We  have  not  only  recov 
ered  from  the  after  effects  of  the  war,  but  we  have 
reached  a  state  of  prosperity  which  we  never  previ 
ously  attained.  You,  on  the  other  hand,  are  still 
groaning  with  enormous  taxes.  You  carry  a  burden 
which  is  self-imposed  and  unnecessary.  You,  of  all 
the  nations,  refuse  to  recognise  the  fact  that  the  gov 
ernment  of  the  great  countries  of  the  world  has 
passed  into  the  hands  of  the  democracy,  and  that 
democracies  will  not  tolerate  war." 

"  There  I  join  issue  with  you,  sir,"  the  Frenchman 
replied.  "  These  are  the  obvious  and  expressed  views 
of  other  European  countries,  yet  month  by  month 
came  rumours  of  the  training  of  gre^t  masses  of 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  157 

troops,  far  in  excess  of  the  numbers  permitted  by 
the  League  of  Nations.  There  is  all  the  time  a  haze 
of  secrecy  over  what  is  going  on  in  certain  parts  of 
Germany.  And  as  for  Russia,  ostensibly  the  freest 
country  in  the  world,  Tsarism  in  its  worst  days 
never  imposed  such  despotic  restrictions  concerning 
the  coming  and  going1  of  foreigners,  in  one  particu 
lar  district,  at  any  rate." 

"  The  Russian  Government  have  certainly  given 
us  cause  for  complaint  in  that  direction,"  Mr.  Mer- 
vin  Brown  admitted.  "  Strong  representations  are 
being  made  to  them  at  the  present  moment.  On  the 
the  other  hand,  the  reason  for  their  attitude  is  easily 
enough  understood.  In  the  days  when  Russia  lay 
exhausted,  foreigners  took  too  much  advantage  of 
her,  attained  far  too  close  a  grip  upon  her  great 
natural  resources.  Russia  has  determined  that  what 
she  has  left  she  will  keep  to  herself.  The  attitude  is 
reasonable,  although  I  am  free  to  admit  that  she  is 
carrying  her  legislation  against  foreigners  too  far." 

"  What  about  the  number  of  men  she  has  under 
arms  every  year?  "  Monsieur  Senn  enquired. 

"  Russia  has  always  a  possible  danger  to  fear 
from  China,  the  new  Colossus  of  Asia,"  the  Prime 
Minister  pointed  out.  "  Even  Russia  herself  has 
not  made  such  strides  within  the  last  fifteen  years  as 
China.  The  secession  of  the  Asiatic  countries  from 
the  League  of  Nations  demanded  certain  precautions 
which  Russia  is  justified  in  taking." 


158  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

The  Frenchman  had  risen  to  his  feet,  but  he  still 
lingered.  A  tall  man,  of  commanding  presence,  with 
olive  complexion,  deep  brown  eyes,  and  black  hair 
lightly  streaked  with  grey,  Monsieur  Felix  Senn  had 
been  a  great  figure  in  the  war  of  1914  -  1918  and  had 
retained  since  a  commanding  position  in  French  poli 
tics.  It  had  often  been  said  that  nothing  but  his 
great  friendship  for  England  had  prevented  his  gain 
ing  the  highest  honours.  His  present  mission,  there 
fore,  which  was  practically  to  end  the  alliance  be 
tween  the  two  countries,  was  a  peculiarly  painful  one 
to  him. 

"  I  must  tell  you  before  we  part,  Mr.  Mervin 
Brown,"  he  said  gravely,  "  that  neither  I  nor  many 
3  of  my  fellow  countrymen  share  your  optimism.  You 
seem  to  have  inherited  the  timeworn  theory  that  the 
War  of  1914  was  entirely  provoked  by  the  junker 
class  of  Germans.  That  is  not  true.  It  was  a 
people's  war,  and  the  people  have  never  forgotten 
what  they  were  pleased  to  consider  the  harsh  terms 
of  the  Treaty  of  Peace.  Then  as  regards  Russia, 
have  you  ever  considered  that  Russia  financially  and 
politically  is  more  than  half  German?  When  Ger 
many  lost  the  war,  she  had  one  great  consolation  — 
she  acquired  Russia.  You  have  compared  the  eco 
nomic  condition  of  France  to-day  with  that  of  your 
country,  sir.  I  admit  your  commercial  supremacy, 
but  let  me  tell  you  this.  I  would  not,  for  the  great- 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  159 

est  boon  the  gods  could  offer  me,  see  France  in  the 
same  helpless  state  as  England  is  in  to-day." 

The  Prime  Minister  rose  also  to  his  feet.  He  wore 
an  air  of  offended  dignity. 

"  Monsieur  Senn,"  he  declared,  "  the  spirit  of 
militarism  is  in  the  blood  of  your  country.  You 
cannot  rid  yourself  of  it  in  one  generation  or  two. 
But,  believe  me,  no  people's  government  at  any  time 
in  the  future,  whether  it  be  English,  Russian,  Ger 
man,  or  American,  will  ever  dare  to  suggest  or  even 
to  dream  of  a  war  of  aggression  or  revenge.  If  we 
are  comparatively  unprotected,  it  is  because  we  need 
no  protection.  We  hear  the  footfall  of  your  march 
ing  millions,  and  we  thank  God  that  that  sound  is 
represented  in  our  country  by  the  roar  of  machinery 
and  the  blaze  of  furnaces." 

The  Frenchman  bowed  and  accepted  the  hand 
which  the  Prime  Minister  offered  him. 

"  I  present  to  you  once  more,  sir,"  he  said,  "  the 
compliments  and  infinite  regrets  of  Monsieur  le 
President." 

A  chapter  of  English  history  ended  with  the  quiet 
passing  of  Monsieur  Senn  into  the  sunlit  street.  The 
latter  entered  his  waiting  automobile  and  drove  at 
once  to  the  French  Embassy.  The  Ambassador  lis 
tened  in  silence  to  his  report. 

"  What  about  the  Press  ?  "  was  his  only  question. 

"  Monsieur  le  President  insists  upon  the  truth, 
being  known,"  the  emissary  announced.  "  France 


160  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

has  pledged  her  word  against  secret  treaties.  Be 
sides,  the  honour  of  France  must  never  afterwards  be 
called  in  question." 

The  Ambassador  sighed.  He  was  new  to  his  pres 
ent  post,  but  he  had  grown  grey  in  the  service  of 
his  country. 

"  It  is  the  end  of  a  one-sided  arrangement,"  he 
declared.  "  It  is  incredible  that  these  people  do  not 
realise  that  it  is  against  their  own  country  —  against 
themselves  — •  that  this  slowly  fermenting  hatred  is 
being  brewed.  The  racial  enmity  between  Germany 
and  France  is  nothing  compared  with  the  hate  of 
antagonistic  kinship  between  Germany  and  England. 
However,  France  is  the  gainer  by  to-day's  event.  We 
have  only  our  own  frontiers  to  watch." 

Monsieur  Felix  Senn  wandered  on  to  the  St.  Phil 
ip's  Club,  where  he  found  his  old  friend  Prince  Kar- 
schoff  talking  in  a  corner  of  the  smoking  room  with 
Nigel.  They  were  both  of  them  prepared  for  the 
news  which  he  presently  communicated  to  them. 
Karschoff  was  bitter,  Nigel  silent. 

"  Well  said  Carlyle  that  *  History  is  philosophy 
teaching  by  examples ',"  the  former  expounded. 
"  How  the  historian  of  the  future  will  revel  in  this 
epoch !  What  treatises  he  will  write,  what  parallels 
he  will  draw!  See  him  point  to  the  days  when  the 
aristocracy  ruled  England,  and  England  fought 
and  flourished;  then  to  the  epoch  when  the  bour 
geoisie  took  their  place,  and  with  a  mighty  effort, 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  161 

met  a  great  emergency  and  flourished.  And  finally, 
in  sympathy  with  the  great  European  upheaval,  in 
sympathy  with  the  great  natural  law  of  change, 
Labour  ousts  both,  single-eyed  Labour,  and  down 
goes  England,  crumbling  into  the  dust !  —  Let  us 
lunch,  my  friends.  The  cuisine  is  still  good  here." 

Nigel  excused  himself. 

"  I  am  engaged,"  he  said.  "  We  may  meet  after 
wards." 

"  Something  tells  me,  my  dear  Nigel,"  Karschoff 
declared,  "  that  you  are  bent  on  frivolity." 

"  If  to  lunch  with  a  woman  is  frivolous,  I  plead 
guilty,"  Nigel  replied. 

Karschoff's  face  was  suddenly  grave.  He  seemed 
on  the  point  of  saying  something  but  checked  him 
self  and  turned  away  with  a  little  shrug  of  the 
shoulders. 

"  Each  one  to  his  taste,"  he  murmured.  "  For 
my  aperitif,  a  dash  of  absinthe  in  my  cocktail;  for 
Dorminster  here,  the  lure  of  a  woman's  smile.  Per 
haps  he  gains.  Who  knows?" 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

Nigel  waited  for  his  luncheon  companion  in  the 
crowded  vestibule  of  London's  most  famous  club 
restaurant.  He  was  to  a  certain  extent  out  of  the 
picture  among  the  crowd  of  this  new  generation  of 
pleasure  seekers,  on  the  faces  of  whom  opulence  and 
acquisitiveness  had  already  laid  its  branding  hand. 
The  Mecca  alike  of  musical  comedy  and  the  Stock 
Exchange,  the  place,  however,  still  preserved  a  curi 
ous  attraction  for  the  foreign  element  in  London, 
so  that  when  at  last  Naida  appeared,  she  was  ex 
changing  courtesies  with  an  Italian  Duchess  on  one 
side  and  a  celebrated  Russian  dancer  on  the  other. 
Nigel  led  her  at  once  to  the  table  which  he  had  se 
lected  in  the  balcony. 

"  I  have  obeyed  your  wishes  to  the  letter,"  he 
said,  "  and  I  think  that  you  are  right.  Up  here  we 
are  entirely  alone,  and,  as  you  see,  they  have  had  the 
sense  to  place  the  tables  a  long  way  apart.  Am  I 
to  blame,  I  wonder,  for  asking  you  to  do  so  uncon 
ventional  a  thing  as  to  lunch  here  again  alone  with 
me?  " 

She  drew  off  her  gloves  and  smiled  across  the  table 
at  him.  Her  plain,  tailor-made  gown,  with  its  high 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  163 

collar,  was  the  last  word  in  elegance.  The  simplicity 
of  her  French  hat  was  to  prove  the  despair  of  a  well- 
known  modiste  seated  downstairs,  who  made  a  sketch 
of  it  on  the  menu  and  tried  in  vain  to  copy  it.  Even 
to  Nigel's  exacting  taste  she  was  flawless. 

"  Is  it  unconventional?  "  she  asked  carelessly.  "  I 
do  not  study  those  things.  I  lunch  or  dine  with  a 
party,  generally,  because  it  happens  so.  I  lunch 
alone  with  you  because  it  pleases  me." 

"  And  for  this  material  side  of  our  entertain 
ment?  "  he  enquired,  smiling,  as  he  handed  her  the 
menu  card. 

"  A  grapefruit,  a  quail  with  white  grapes,  and 
some  asparagus,"  she  replied  promptly.  "  You  see, 
in  one  respect  I  am  an  easy  companion.  I  know 
exactly  what  I  want.  A  mixed  vermouth,  if  you 
like,  yes.  And  now,  tell  me  your  news?  " 

"  There  is  news,"  he  announced,  "  which  the  whole 
world  will  know  of  before  many  hours  are  past. 
France  has  broken  her  pact  with  England." 

"  It  is  my  opinion,"  she  said  deliberately,  "  that 
France  has  been  very  patient  with  you." 

"  And  mine,"  he  acknowledged.  "  We  have  now 
to  see  what  will  become  of  a  fat  and  prosperous  coun 
try  with  a  semi-obsolete  fleet  and  a  comic  opera 
army." 

"  Must  we  talk  of  serious  things?  "  she  asked  soft 
ly.  "  I  am  weary  of  the  clanking  wheels  of  life." 

He  sighed. 


164  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

**  And  yet  for  you,"  he  said,  "  they  are  not  grind 
ing  out  the  fate  of  your  country." 

"  Nevertheless,  I  too  hear  them  all  the  time,"  she 
rejoined.  "  And  I  hate  them.  They  make  one  lose 
one's  sense  of  proportion.  After  all,  it  is  our  own 
individual  and  internal  life  which  counts.  I  can  un 
derstand  Nero  fiddling  while  Rome  burned,  if  he 
really  had  no  power  to  call  up  fire  engines." 

"Are  you  an  individualist?  "  he  asked. 

"  Not  fundamentally,"  she  replied,  "  but  I  am 
caught  up  in  the  throes  of  a  great  reaction.  I  have 
been  studying  events,  which  it  is  quite  true  may 
change  the  destinies  of  the  world,  so  intently  that  I 
have  almost  forgotten  that,  after  all,  the  greatest 
thing  in  the  world,  my  world,  is  the  happiness  or  ill- 
content  of  Naida  Karetsky.  It  is  really  of  more 
importance  to  me  to-day  that  my  quail  should  be 
cooked  as  I  like  it  than  that  England  has  let  go 
her  last  rope." 

"  You  are  not  an  Englishwoman,"  he  reminded  her. 

"  That  is  of  minor  importance.  We  are  all  so 
much  immersed  in  great  affairs  just  now  that  we 
forget  it  is  the  small  ones  that  count.  I  want  my 
luncheon  to  be  perfect,  I  want  you  to  seem  as  nice 
to  me  as  I  have  fancied  you,  and  I  want  you  to  chase 
completely  away  the  idea  that  you  are  cultivating 
my  acquaintance  for  interested  motives." 

"  That  I  can  assure  you  from  the  bottom  of  my 
heart  is  not  the  case,"  he  replied.  "  Whatever  other 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  165 

interests  I  may  feel  in  you,"  he  added,  after  a  mo 
ment's  hesitation,  "  my  first  and  foremost  is  a  per 
sonal  one." 

She  looked  at  him  with  gratitude  in  her  eyes  for 
his  understanding. 

"  A  woman  in  my  position,"  she  complained,  "  is 
out  of  place.  A  man  ought  to  come  over  and  study 
your  deservings  or  your  undeservings  and  pore  over 
the  problem  of  the  future  of  Europe.  I  am  a  woman, 
and  I  am  not  big  enough.  I  am  too  physical.  I 
have  forgotten  how  to  enjoy  myself,  and  I  love  plea 
sure.  Now  am  I  a  revelation  to  you?  " 

"  You  have  always  been  that,"  he  told  her.  "  You 
are  so  truthful  yourself,"  he  went  on  boldly,  "  that 
I  shall  run  the  risk  of  saying  the  most  banal  thing 
in  the  world,  just  because  it  happens  to  be  the  truth. 
I  have  felt  for  you  since  our  first  meeting  what  I 
have  felt  for  no  other  woman  in  the  world." 

"  I  like  that,  and  I  am  glad  you  said  it,"  she 
declared  lightly  enough,  although  her  lips  quivered 
for  a  moment.  "  And  they  have  put  exactly  the 
right  quantity  of  Maraschino  in  my  grapefruit.  I 
feel  that  I  am  on  the  way  to  happiness.  I  am  going 
to  enjoy  my  luncheon.  — Tell  me  about  Maggie." 

"  I  saw  her  yesterday,"  he  answered.  "  We  have 
arranged  for  her  to  come  and  live  at  Belgrave 
Square,  after  all." 

"  My  terrible  altruism  once  more,"  she  sighed.  "  I 
had  meant  not  to  speak  another  serious  word,  and 


166  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

yet  I  must.  Maggie  is  very  clever,  amazingly  clever, 
I  sometimes  think,  but  if  she  had  the  brains  of  all 
of  her  sex  rolled  into  one,  she  would  still  be  facing 
now  an  impossible  situation." 

"  Just  what  do  you  mean?  "  he  asked  cautiously. 

"  Maggie  seems  determined  to  measure  her  wits 
with  those  of  Prince  Shan,'*  she  said.  "  Believe  me, 
that  is  hopeless." 

She  looked  up  at  him  and  laughed  softly. 

"  Oh,  my  dear  friend,"  she  went  on,  "  that  wooden 
expression  is  wonderful.  You  do  not  quite  know 
where  I  stand,  except  —  may  I  flatter  myself?  —  as 
regards  your  personal  feelings  for  me.  Am  I  for 
Immelan  and  his  schemes,  or  for  your  own  foolish 
country?  You  do  not  know,  so  you  make  for  your 
self  a  face  of  wood." 

"  Where  do  you  stand  ?  "  he  asked  bluntly. 

"  Sufficiently  devoted  to  your  interests  to  beg  you 
thi&,"  she  replied.  "  Do  not  let  your  little  cousin 
think  that  she  can  deal  with  a  man  like  Prince  Shan. 
There  can  be  only  one  end  to  that." 

Nigel  moved  a  little  uneasily  in  his  place. 

"  Prince  Shan  is  only  an  ordinary  human  being, 
after  all,"  he  protested. 

"  That  is  just  where  you  are  mistaken,"  she  de 
clared.  "  Prince  Shan  is  one  of  the  most  extraor 
dinary  human  beings  who  ever  lived.  He  is  one  of 
the  most  farseeing  men  in  the  world,  and  he  is  abso 
lutely  the  most  powerful." 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN          167 

"  But  China,"  Nigel  began 

"  His  power  extends  far  beyond  China,"  she  in 
terrupted,  "  and  there  is  no  brain  in  the  world  to 
match  his  to-day." 

"  If  he  were  a  god  wielding  thunderbolts,"  Nigel 
observed,  "  he  could  scarcely  do  much  harm  to  Mag 
gie  here  in  London." 

"  There  was  an  artist  once,"  she  said  reflectively, 
"  who  drew  a  caricature  of  Prince  Shan  and  sent  it 
to  the  principal  comic  paper  in  America.  It  was 
such  a  success  that  a  little  time  later  on  he  followed 
it  up  with  another,  which  included  a  line  of  Prince 
Shan's  ancestors.  Within  a  month's  time  the  artist 
was  found  murdered.  Prince  Shan  was  in  China  at 
the  time." 

"  Are  you  suggesting  that  the  artist  was  murdered 
through  Prince  Shan's  contrivance?  " 

"Am  I  a  fool?"  she  answered.  "Do  you  not 
know  that  to  speak  disrespectfully  of  the  ancestors 
of  a  Chinaman  is  unforgivable?  To  all  appearances 
Prince  Shan  never  moved  from  his  wonderful  palace 
in  Pekin,  many  thousands  of  miles  away.  Yet  he 
lifted  his  little  finger  and  the  man  died." 

"  Isn't  this  a  little  melodramatic?  "  Nigel  mur 
mured. 

"  Melodrama  is  often  nearer  the  truth  than  peo- 
pls  think,"  she  said.  "  Shall  I  give  you  another 
instance?  I  know  of  several." 

"  One  more,  then." 


i68  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

"  Prince  Shan  was  in  Paris  two  years  ago,  incog 
nito,"  she  continued.  "  There  was  at  the  time  a 
small  but  very  fashionable  restaurant  in  the  Bois, 
close  to  the  Pre  Catelan.  He  presented  himself  one 
night  there  for  dinner,  accompanied,  I  believe,  by 
La  Belle  Nita,  the  Chinese  dancer  who  is  in  London 
to-day.  As  you  know,  there  is  little  in  Prince  Shan's 
appearance  to  denote  the  Oriental,  but  for  some  rea 
son  or  other  the  proprietor  refused  him  a  table. 
Prince  Shan  made  no  scene.  He  left  and  went  else 
where.  Three  nights  later,  the  cafe  was  burnt  to 
the  ground,  and  the  proprietor  was  ruined. " 

"  Anything  else?  "  Nigel  asked. 

"  Only  one  thing  more,"  she  replied.  "  I  have 
known  him  slightly  for  years.  In  Asia  he  ranks  to 
all  men  as  little  less  than  a  god.  His  palaces  are 
filled  with  priceless  treasures.  He  has  the  finest 
collection  of  jewels  in  the  world.  His  wealth  is  sim 
ply  inexhaustible.  His  appearance  you  appreciate. 
Yet  I  have  never  seen  him  look  at  a  woman  as  he 
looked  at  your  cousin  the  first  time  he  met  her.  I 
was  at  the  Ritz  with  my  father,  and  I  watched.  I 
know  you  think  that  I  am  being  foolish.  I  am  not. 
I  am  a  person  with  a  very  great  deal  of  common 
sense,  and  I  tell  you  that  Prince  Shan  has  never 
desired  a  thing  in  life  to  which  he  has  not  helped 
himself.  Maggie  is  a  clever  child,  but  she  cannot 
toss  knives  with  a  conjuror." 

Nigel  was  impressed  and  a  little  worried. 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  169 

"  It  seems  absurd  to  think  that  anything  could 
happen  to  Maggie  here  in  London,"  he  said, 
"  after " 

He  paused  abruptly.     Naida  smiled  at  him. 

"  After  her  escape  from  Germany,  I  suppose  you 
were  going  to  say?  You  see,  I  know  all  about  it. 
There  was  no  Prince  Shan  in  Berlin.'* 

He  shrugged  his  shoulders  slightly. 

"  Well,"  he  admitted,  "  I  don't  quite  bring  my 
self  to  believe  in  your  terrible  ogre,  so  I  shall  not 
worry.  Tell  me  what  news  you  have  from  Russia?  " 

"Political?" 

"  Any  news." 

She  smiled. 

"  I  notice,"  she  said,  "  that  English  people  are 
changing  their  attitude  towards  my  country.  A  few 
years  ago  she  seemed  negligible  to  them.  Now  they 
are  beginning  to  have  —  shall  I  call  them  fears  ? 
Even  my  kind  host,  I  think,  would  like  to  know  what 
is  in  Paul  Matinsky's  heart  as  he  hears  the  friends 
of  Oscar  Immelan  plead  their  cause." 

"  I  admit  it,"  he  told  her  frankly.  "  I  will  go 
farther.  I  would  give  a  great  deal  to  know  what 
is  in  your  own  mind  to-day  concerning  us  and  our 
destiny.  But  these  things  are  not  for  the  moment. 
It  was  not  to  discuss  or  even  to  think  of  them  that 
I  asked  you  here  to-day." 

"  Why  did  you  invite  me,  then  ?  "  she  asked,  smiling. 

"  Because  I  wanted  the  pleasure  of  having  you 


170  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

opposite  me,"  he  replied,  — "  because  I  wanted  to 
know  you  better." 

"  And  are  you  progressing?  " 

"  Indifferently  well,"  he  acknowledged.  "  I  seem 
to  gain  a  little  and  slide  back  again.  You  are  not 
an  easy  person  to  know  well." 

"  Nothing  that  is  worth  having  is  easy,"  she  an 
swered,  "  and  I  can  assure  you,  when  my  friendship 
is  once  gained,  it  is  a  rare  and  steadfast  thing." 

"  And  your  affection?  "  he  ventured. 

Her  eyes  rested  upon  his  for  a  moment  and  then 
suddenly  drooped.  A  little  tinge  of  colour  stole  into 
her  cheeks.  For  a  moment  she  seemed  to  have  lost 
her  admirable  poise. 

"  That  is  not  easily  disturbed,"  she  told  him 
quietly.  "  I  think  that  I  must  have  an  unfortunate 
temperament,  there  are  so  few  people  for  whom  I 
really  care." 

He  took  his  courage  into  both  hands. 

"  I  have  heard  it  rumoured,"  he  said,  "  that  Matin- 
sky  is  the  only  man  who  has  ever  touched  your 
heart." 

She  shook  her  head. 

"  That  is  not  the  truth.  Paul  Matinsky  cares 
for  me  in  his  strange  way,  and  he  has  a  curiously 
exaggerated  appreciation  of  my  brain.  There  have 
been  times,"  she  went  on,  after  a'  moment's  hesita 
tion,  "  when  I  myself  have  been  disturbed  by  fancies 
concerning  him,  but  those  times  have  passed." 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  171 

"  I  am  glad,"  he  said  quietly. 

His  fingers,  straying  across  the  tablecloth,  met 
hers.  She  did  not  withdraw  them.  He  clasped  her 
hand,  and  it  remained  for  a  moment  passive  in  his. 
Then  she  withdrew  it  and  leaned  back  in  her  chair. 

c;  Is  that  meant  to  introduce  a  more  intimate  note 
into  our  conversation? "  she  asked,  with  a  slight 
wrinkling  of  the  forehead  and  the  beginnings  of  a 
smile  upon  her  lips. 

"  If  I  dared,  I  would  answer  '  yes  ',"  he  assured 
her. 

"  They  tell  me,"  she  continued  pensively,  "  that 
Englishmen  more  than  any  other  men  in  the  world 
have  the  flair  for  saying  convincingly  the  things 
which  they  do  not  mean." 

"  In  my  case,  that  would  not  be  true,"  he  answered. 
"  My  trouble  is  that  I  dare  not  say  one  half  of  what 
I  feel."  **" 

She  looked  across  the  table  at  him,  and  Nigel 
suddenly  felt  a  great  weight  of  depression  lifted 
from  his  heart.  He  forgot  all  about  his  country's 
peril.  Life  and  its  possibilities  seemed  somehow  all 
different.  He  was  carried  away  by  a  rare  wave  of 
emotion. 

"  Naida !  "  he  whispered. 

"Yes?" 

Her  eyes  were  soft  and  expectant.  Something  of 
the  gravity  had  gone  from  her  face.  She  was  like  a 
girl,  suddenly  young  with  new  thoughts. 


172  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

"  You  know  what  I  am  going  to  say  to  you?  " 

"  Do  not  say  it  yet,  please,"  she  begged.  "  Some 
how  it  seems  to  me  that  the  time  has  not  come,  though 
the  thought  of  what  may  be  in  your  heart  is  won 
derful.  I  want  to  dream  about  it  first,"  she  went 
on.  "  I  want  to  think." 

He  laughed,  a  strange  sound  almost  to  his  own 
ears,  for  Nigel,  since  his  uncle's  death,  had  tasted 
the  very  depths  of  depression. 

"  I  obey,"  he  agreed.  "  It  is  well  to  dally  with  the 
great  things.  Meanwhile,  they  grow." 

She  smiled  across  at  him. 

"  I  hope  that  they  may,*'  she  answered.  "  And 
you  will  ask  me  to  lunch  again?  " 

"  Lunch  or  dine  or  walk  or  motor  —  whatever  you 
will,"  he  promised. 

She  reflected  for  a  moment  and  then  laughed. 
She  was  drawing  on  her  gloves  now,  and  Nigel  was 
paying  the  bill. 

"  There  are  some  people  who  will  not  like  this," 
she  said. 

"  And  one,"  he  declared,  "  for  whom  it  is  going 
to  make  life  a  Paradise." 

They  passed  out  into  the  street  and  strolled  lei 
surely  westwards.  As  they  crossed  Trafalgar 
Square,  a  stream  of  newsboys  from  the  Strand  were 
spreading  in  all  directions.  Nigel  and  his  companion 
seemed  suddenly  surrounded  by  placards,  all  with 
the  same  headlines.  They  paused  to  read: 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  173 

TRIUMPH  OF  THE   CHANCELLOR 

HUGE  REDUCTION  OF  THE  NATIONAL  DEBT 

TOTAL  ABOLITION  OF  THE  INCOME  TAX 

They  walked  on.  Naida  said  nothing,  although 
she  shook  her  head  a  little  sorrowfully.  Nigel 
glanced  across  the  Square  and  down  towards  West 
minster. 

"  They  will  shout  themselves  hoarse  there  this 
afternoon,"  he  groaned. 

For  the  first  time  she  betrayed  her  knowledge  of 
coming  events. 

"  It  is  amazing,"  she  whispered,  "  for  the  writing 
on  the  wall  is  already  there." 


CHAPTER  XIX 

Seated  in  one  of  the  first  tier  boxes  at  the  Albert 
Hall,  in  the  gorgeous  but  obsolete  uniform  of  a  staff 
officer  in  the  Russian  Imperial  Forces,  Prince  Kar- 
schoff,  with  Nigel  on  one  side  and  Maggie  on  the 
other,  gazed  with  keen  interest  at  the  brilliant  scene 
below  and  around.  The  greatest  city  the  world  has 
ever  known  seemed  in  those  days  to  have  entered 
upon  an  orgy  of  extravagance  unprecedented  in  his 
tory.  Every  box  and  every  yard  of  dancing  space 
on  the  floor  beneath  was  crowded  with  men  and  women 
in  wonderful  fancy  costumes,  the  women  bedecked 
with  jewels  which  eager  merchants  had  brought  to 
gether  from  every  market  of  the  world ;  even  the  men, 
in  their  silks  and  velvets  and  ruffles,  carrying  out 
the  dominant  note  of  wealth.  It  was  a  ball  given  for 
charity  and  under  royal  patronage. 

"  All  our  friends  seem  to  be  here  to-night,"  the 
Prince  remarked,  glancing  around.  "  I  saw  Naida 
with  her  father  and  the  eternal  Oscar  Immelan. 
Chalmers  is  here  with  an  exceedingly  gay  party,  and 
yonder  sits  his  Imperial  Highness,  looking  very  much 
the  barbaric  prince.  —  By  the  by,"  he  added,  glanc 
ing  towards  Maggie,  "  I  thought  that  he  was  not 
coming?  " 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  175, 

Maggie,  who  seemed  a  little  tired,  nodded  quietly. 
It  was  a  week  or  ten  days  later,  and  an  early  sea 
son  was  now  in  full  swing. 

"  He  told  me  that  he  was  not  coming,"  she  said. 
"  I  suppose  the  temptation  to  wear  that  gorgeous 
raiment  was  too  much  for  him." 

"  Apropos  of  that,  there  is  one  curious  thing  to 
be  noted  here  with  regard  to  clothes,"  the  Prince 
continued.  "  Amongst  the  men,  you  find  Venetian 
Doges,  Chancellors,  gallants  of  every  age,  but  scarce 
ly  a  single  uniform.  In  a  way,  this  seems  typical  of 
the  passing  of  the  militarism  of  your  country.  You 
are  beginning  to  remind  me  of  Venice  in  the  Middle 
Ages.  There  is  a  new  type  of  brain  dominant  here, 
fat  instead  of  muscle,  a  citizen  aristocracy  instead 
of  the  lean,  clear-eyed,  athletic  type." 

Maggie  moved  in  her  place  a  little  irritably. 

*'  I  am  tired  of  warnings,"  she  declared.  "  I  wish 
some  one  could  do  something." 

"  It  is  impossible,"  the  Prince  pronounced  sol 
emnly.  "  Napoleon  earned  for  himself  a  greater 
claim  to  immortality  when  he  christened  the  English 
a  nation  of  shopkeepers  than  when  he  won  the  Bat 
tle  of  Austerlitz.  If  the  Englishman  of  to-day  saw 
his  material  prosperity  slipping  away  from  him,  then 
indeed  he  would  be  nervous  and  restless,  ready  to 
lean  towards  every  wind  that  blew,  to  listen  to  every 
disquieting  rumour.  To-day  his  bank  balance  is 
prodigious,  and  all's  well  with  the  world.  —  How 


176          THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

wonderfully  Prince  Shan  lives  up  to  his  part  to 
night!" 

They  looked  across  towards  the  opposite  box, 
whose  single  occupant,  in  the  bright  green  robes  of 
a  mandarin,  sat  looking  down  upon  the  gay  throng 
with  an  absolutely  immovable  expression.  There 
was  something  almost  regal  about  his  air  of  detach 
ment,  his  solitude  amidst  such  a  gay  scene. 

"  There  is  one  of  the  strangest  and  most  consist 
ent  figures  in  history,"  Karschoff,  who  was  in  a 
talkative  frame  of  mind,  went  on  reflectively.  "  I 
honestly  believe  that  Prince  Shan  considers  himself 
to  be  of  celestial  descent,  to  carry  in  his  person  the 
honour  of  countless  generations  of  Manchus.  He 
has  no  intimates.  Even  Immelan  usually  has  to  seek 
an  audience.  What  his  pleasures  may  be,  who  knows  ? 
—  because  everything  that  happens  with  him  hap 
pens  behind  closed  walls.  To-night,  the  door  of  his 
box  is  guarded  as  though  he  were  more  than  royalty. 
No  one  is  allowed  to  enter  unless  he  has  special  per 
mission." 

"  There  is  some  one  entering  now,"  Maggie  point 
ed  out,  "  for  the  first  time.  Watch !  " 

La  Belle  Nita  stood  for  a  moment  in  the  front  of 
the  box.  She  was  dressed  in  the  gala  costume  of  a 
Chinese  lady,  in  a  cherry-coloured  robe  with  wide 
sleeves,  her  hair,  with  its  many  jewelled  ornaments, 
like  a  black  pool  of  night,  her  face  ghastly  white 
•with  a  superabundance  of  powder.  Prince  Shan 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  177 

turned  his  head  slightly  towards  her,  and  though  no 
muscle  of  his  face  moved,  it  was  obvious  that  her 
coming  was  unwelcome.  She  began  to  talk.  He  lis 
tened  with  the  face  of  a  sphinx.  Presently  she  drew 
back  into  the  shadows  of  the  box.  She  had  thrown 
herself  into  a  chair,  and  her  face  was  hidden. 

"La  Belle  Nita  has  made  a  mistake,"  Maggie 
observed.  "  His  Serene  Highness  evidently  had  no 
wish  to  be  disturbed." 

Karschoff's  eyes  rested  upon  the  figure  in  green 
silk,  and  they  were  filled  with  an  unwilling  admira 
tion. 

"  That  man  is  magnificent,"  he  declared.  "  Watch 
his  face  now  that  he  is  speaking.  Not  a  muscle 
moves,  not  a  flash  in  his  eyes,  yet  one  has  the  fancy 
that  he  is  saying  terrible  things." 

It  was  obvious,  a  moment  later,  that  La  Belle  Nita 
had  left  the  box.  Maggie  sprang  up.  Her  colour 
was  a  little  heightened.  There  was  a  rare  nervous 
ness  in  her  tone. 

"  Let  us  walk  around  and  find  some  of  the  others," 
she  suggested,  turning  to  Nigel.  "  I  want  to  dance." 

They  all  three  passed  out  and  mingled  with  the 
dancers.  Maggie  put  on  her  mask  and  deliberately 
glided  into  the  crowd  as  though  with  the  intention  of 
losing  herself.  It  was  not  until  she  was  underneath 
Prince  Shan's  box  and  out  of  sight  of  its  occupant 
that  she  paused.  Her  thoughts  were  in  a  turmoil. 
His  presence  there,  after  his  deliberate  assurance  to 


178  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

her  that  he  had  no  intention  of  coming,  his  calm 
and  unnoticing  regard  of  her  and  every  one  else, 
seemed  to  confirm  in  every  way  the  wave  of  pessi 
mism  which  she  as  well  as  Nigel  was  experiencing. 
She  had  passed  Immelan  in  the  entrance,  and  there 
was  something  ominously  disturbing  in  his  cool,  tri 
umphant  smile.  She  pictured  to  herself  the  agree 
ment  signed,  some  nameless  terror  already  launched. 
She  remembered  that  Nigel  had  complained  of 
Naida's  inaccessibility  during  the  last  few  days.  She 
herself  had  been  surprised  at  Prince  Shan's  appar 
ent  withdrawal,  temporary  though  it  might  be,  from 
the  peculiar  but  impressive  position  which  he  had 
taken  up  with  regard  to  her. 

She  stood  back  against  the  wall,  in  a  dark  corner, 
striving  to  collect  her  thoughts,  thankful  for  the 
brief  respite  from  conversation.  A  man  in  the  cos 
tume  of  a  monk,  who  had  followed  her  across  the 
room,  touched  her  on  the  shoulder.  He  spoke  in  a 
quiet,  unfamiliar  voice  with  a  foreign  accent. 

"  You  are  Lady  Maggie  Trent  ?  " 

"  Yes !  " 

"  Will  you  please  go  to  box  number  fourteen,  on 
the  second  tier?  There  is  some  one  there  who  waits 
for  you." 

"  Who  is  it?  "  she  asked. 

The  monk  had  glided  away.  Maggie,  after  a  few 
minutes*  reflection,  slipped  out  into  the  corridor, 
mounted  one  flight  of  stairs,  and  passed  along  the 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  179 

semicircular  balcony.  The  door  of  box  number  four 
teen  was  ajar.  She  pushed  it  gently  open  and 
glanced  in.  Seated  so  as  to  be  out  of  sight  of  the 
whole  house  was  La  Belle  Nita.  For  a  moment  the 
two  looked  at  each  other.  Then  the  Chinese  girl 
sprang  to  her  feet,  made  a  quaint  little  bow,  and, 
gliding  around,  closed  the  door  behind  her  visitor. 

"  Sit  down,  please,"  she  invited.  "  I  will  tell  you 
things  you  may  like  to  hear." 

A  sudden  thought  flashed  into  Maggie's  mind. 
She  began  to  see  light.  She  obeyed  at  once.  The 
two  women  sat  well  back  and  out  of  sight  of  the 
house.  La  Belle  Nita  held  the  handle  of  the  door  in 
her  hand  while  she  spoke,  as  though  to  prevent  any 
one  entering. 

"  I  have  an  enemy  who  was  once  a  friend,"  she 
said,  "  and  I  wish  to  do  him  evil.  He  is  not  only  my 
enemy,  but  he  is  yours.  He  is  the  enemy  of  all  you 
English  people,  because  it  is  a  great  disaster  which 
he  plans  to  bring  upon  you." 

"  You  speak  of  Prince  Shan?  "  Maggie  exclaimed. 

Even  at  the  mention  of  his  name,  the  girl  shook. 
She  looked  around  as  though  fearing  the  shadows. 
She  rattled  the  door  to  make  sure  that  it  was  closed. 

"  For  him  whom  you  call  Prince  Shan  I  have 
worked  many  years,  first  of  all  in  Paris,  now  here.  I 
was  content  with  small  reward.  That  reward  he 
now  takes  from  me.  It  is  my  wish  to  betray  him."1 

"  Why  do  you  send  for  me  ?  "  Maggie  asked. 


i8o  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

a  Because  you  have  been,  an  English  spy,**  was  the 
quiet  reply.  "  It  may  surprise  you  that  I  know 
that,  but  I  do  know.  I  have  been  a  spy  for  Prince 
Shan  in  Paris.  You  were  a  spy  for  England  in  Ber 
lin.  You  were  a  spy  for  your  country's  sake;  I 
was  a  spy  for  love.  Now  I  betray  for  hate." 

"  Please  go  on." 

""  Prince  Shan  came  this  time  to  Europe  with  two 
schemes  in  his  mind,*'  the  girl  continued.  "  One  con 
cerned  France.  That  one  he  has  discarded. 
Through  me  he  learned  of  the  military  strength  of 
France,  her  secret  resources,  of  her  tireless  watch 
upon  the  Rhine.  So  he  listens  to  Immelan,  and  Im- 
melan  and  he  together,  oh,  English  lady,  they  have 
made  a  wonderful  plan !  " 

"  Are  you  going  to  tell  me  what  it  is  ?  "  Maggie 
asked,  her  eyes  bright  with  excitement. 

tt  I  cannot  tell  you  because  I  do  not  know,"  was 
the  unwilling  admission,  "  but  I  will  make  it  so  that 
you  can  discover  for  yourself.  A  few  hours  ago,  the 
plan  was  submitted  to  Prince  Shan.  It  lies  in  the 
third  drawer  of  an  ebony  cabinet,  in  the  room  on  the 
left-hand  side  of  the  hall  after  you  have  entered  his 
house  in  Curzon  Street." 

"  But  no  one  can  enter  it ! "  Maggie  exclaimed. 
**  The  place  is  like  a  fort.  No  stranger  may  pass 
the  threshold  even.  The  Prince  has  told  me  himself 
that  he  receives  no  visitors." 

La  BeHe  Nita  smiled-     From  a  pocket  somewhere 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  :  =  : 


within  the  folds  of  her  flowing  gown, 
two  small  keys. 

"Listen," she  said.  **  The  boose  in  Canon  Street 
has  been  called  the  House  of  Silence.  There  are 
many  sextants  there,  bat  they  cone  only  from  be 
neath  and  when  they  ave  soannoned.  There  is  what 
no  other  person  has  erer  possessed  —  the  key  of  the 
front  door.  There  is  also  the  key  of  the  *••*•••*- 
Prince  Shan  has  ordered  IBS  autos9obde  for  two 
o'clock.  It  is  now  barely  Midnight." 

The  keys  lay  in  the  pahn  of  Maggie's  hand.    Her 
heart  had  began  to  beat  quickly, 
she  was  comciooi  of  a  thrill  of  exc 


back  in  her  corner  of  the  railway  carriage, 
for  the  frontier,  knowing  that  the  wires  were  busy 
with  her  name,  and  that  men  who  knew  no  mercy 
were  on  her  track. 

tt  If  the  servants  should  hear  me?  "she  faltered. 

"  You  say  only  « I  await  the  Prince',"  La  Belle 
Nit  a  murmured.  That  key  iicifu.  leaves  his  own 
person  save  for  one  in  great  favour.  They  wnl  be 
lieve  that  he  gave  it  to  you.  You  wffl  be  • 

A  queer  sensation  suddenly  afflaitnl  Maggie. 

She  looked  at  the  girl  opposite  to  her,  the  girl  whose 
body  was  draped  in  perfumed  silks,  •host,  face  was 
'Hiiflc  willi  rice  powder,  whose  eyes  were  and*  She 


182  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

felt  no  pity.  What  feeling  she  had,  she  did  not 
caie  to  analyse. 

"  Is  this  your  key  ?  "  she  asked. 

"  It  was  mine  once,  but  its  use  has  been  forbidden 
to  me,"  the  girl  replied.  "  Prince  Shan  is  a  changed 
man.  Something  has  come  into  his  life  of  which  I 
know  nothing,  but  as  it  has  come,  so  must  I  go.  I 
give  you  your  chance,  lady,  but  already  I  weaken. 
Go  quickly,  if  you  go  at  all.  Please  leave  me,  for  I 
am  very  unhappy." 

Maggie  stole  quietly  out  and  made  her  way 
through  the  jostling  throng  back  to  her  own  box, 
which  for  the  moment  was  empty.  She  slipped  on  her 
cloak,  and  from  the  hidden  spaces  where  she  stood 
she  looked  across  the  auditorium.  The  silent  figure 
in  green  silk  robes  was  still  seated  in  his  place,  his 
eyes  following  the  movements  of  the  dancers,  his 
head  a  little  thrown  back,  a  slight  weariness  in  his 
face.  He  was  still  alone.  He  still  had  the  air  of 
being  alone  because  it  was  his  desire.  Once  he  looked 
up  towards  the  box  in  which  she  was,  and  Maggie, 
although  she  knew  she  was  invisible,  shrank  back 
against  the  wall.  She  set  her  teeth  hard  and  looked 
back  through  the  slightly  misty  space.  An  unfamil 
iar  feeling  for  a  moment  almost  choked  her.  She 
waited  until  she  had  vanquished  it,  then  adjusted 
her  mask  and  left  the  box. 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  193 

Presently  the  door  was  stealthily  opened.  A  face 
as  pale  as  deatn,  with  black  eyes  like  pieces  of  coal, 
was  framed  for  a  moment  in  the  shadowed  slit.  A 
little  waft  of  familiar  perfume  stole  in.  La  Belle 
Nita,  her  flaming  lips  widely  parted,  as  soon  as  she 
recognised  the  sole  occupant  of  the  box,  crept 
through  the  opening  and  closed  the  door  again. 

"You  are  here?"  she  exclaimed  incredulously. 
"Your  courage  failed  you?  You  did  not  go?" 

"  I  have  been  and  returned,"  Maggie  answered. 
"  Now  tell  me  what  I  have  done  that  you  should 
have  plotted  this  thing  against  me  ?  " 

The  girl  sat  on  the  edge  of  a  chair  and  for  a 
moment  hummed  the  refrain  of  a  sad  chant,  as  she 
rocked  slowly  backwards  and  forwards. 

"  '  What  have  you  done  ?  '  the  rose  asked  the  but 
terfly.  *  What  have  you  done?  *  the  mimosa  blos 
som  asked  the  little  blue  bird,  whose  wings  fluttered 
amongst  her  leaves.  *  You  have  taken  love  from  me, 
love  which  is  the  blossom  of  life.* " 

"  It  sounds  very  picturesque,"  Maggie  said  cold 
ly,  "  but  I  do  not  follow  your  allegory.  What  I 
want  to  know  is  why  you  lied  to  me,  why  you  sent 
me  to  that  house  to  meet  Prince  Shan?  " 

"  How  did  I  lie  to  you?  "  Nita  demanded.  "  The 
papers  you  sought  were  there.  Were  they  not  yours 
for  the  asking,  or  was  the  price  too  great?  " 

"  The  papers  were  there,  certainly,"  Maggie  ac 
quiesced,  "  but  you  knew  very  well  —  '* 


194  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

She  stopped  short.  Slowly  the  Oriental  idea  of  it 
all  was  beginning  to  frame  itself  in  her  mind.  She 
dimly  understood  the  bewilderment  in  the  other's 
face. 

"  The  papers  were  there,  and  he,  the  most  wonder 
ful  of  all  men,  was  there,"  Nita  murmured,  "  yet 
you  leave  him  while  the  night  is  yet  young,  you  re 
turn  here  without  them !  " 

Maggie  rose  from  her  chair,  moved  to  the  side 
table  and  poured  herself  out  a  glass  of  wine,  which 
she  drank  hastily.  Anything  to  escape  from  the 
scornful  wonder  of  those  questioning  eyes ! 

"  I  did  not  go  there,"  she  said,  "  to  make  bar 
gains  with  Prince  Shan.  I  believed  as  you  wished 
me  to  believe,  that  he  was  here  in  that  box.  I  be 
lieved  that  I  should  have  found  the  house  empty, 
should  have  found  what  I  wanted  and  have  escaped 
with  it.  Why  did  you  do  this  thing?  Why  did  you 
send  me  on  that  errand  when  you  knew  that  Prince 
Shan  was  there?  " 

"  It  was  my  desire  that  he  should  know  that  you 
are  no  different  from  other  women,"  was  the  calm 
reply.     "  I  was  a  spy  for  him.     You  are  a  spy  — 
against  him." 

"  It  was  a  deliberate  plot,  then ! "  Maggie  ex 
claimed,  trying  to  feel  the  anger  which  she  imparted 
to  her  tone. 

La  Belle  Nita  suddenly  laughed,  softly  and  like  a 
bird. 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  195 

"  You  very,  very  foolish  Englishwoman,"  she  said. 
"  A  hand  leaned  down  from  Heaven,  and  you  liked 
better  to  stay  where  you  were,  but  I  am  glad." 

"And  why?" 

"  Because  I  have  been  his  slave,"  the  girl  con 
tinued.  "  At  odd,  strange  moments  he  has  shown  me 
a  little  love,  he  has  let  me  creep  into  a  small  corner 
of  his  heart.  Now  I  am  cast  out,  and  there  is  no 
more  life  for  me  because  there  is  no  more  love,  and 
there  is  no  more  love  because,  having  felt  his,  no 
other  can  come  after.  Here  have  I  sat  with  all 
the  tortures  of  Hell  burning  in  my  blood  because  I 
knew  that  you  and  he  were  there  alone,  because  I  was 
never  sure  that,  after  all,  I  was  not  doing  my  lord's 
will.  And  now  I  know  that  I  suffered  in  vain.  You 
did  not  understand." 

Maggie  looked  across  at  her  visitor  reflectively. 
She  was  beginning  to  regain  her  poise. 

"  Listen,"  she  said,  "  did  you  seriously  expect  me 
to  accept  Prince  Shan  as  a  lover?  " 

The  girl's  eyes  were  round  with  wonder. 

"  It  would  be  your  great  good  fortune,"  she  mur 
mured,  "  if  he  should  offer  you  so  wonderful  a  thing." 

Maggie  laughed,  —  persisted  in  her  laugh,  al 
though  it  sounded  a  little  hard  and  the  mirth  a  little 
forced. 

"  I  cannot  reason  with  you,"  she  declared,  "  be 
cause  you  would  not  understand.  If  you  love  him 
so  much,  why  not  go  back  to  him?  You  will  find 


1 96     THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

him  quite  alone.  I  dare  say  you  know  the  secrets 
of  his  lockless  doors  and  hordes  of  unseen  servants." 

La  Belle  Nita  rose  to  her  feet.  About  her  lips 
there  flickered  the  faintest  smile. 

"  Young  English  lady,"  she  said,  "  I  shall  not  go, 
because  I  am  shut  for  ever  out  of  his  heart.  But 
listen;  would  you  have  me  go?  " 

For  a  moment  Maggie's  poise  was  gone  again.  A 
strange  uncertainty  was  once  more  upon  her.  She 
was  terrified  at  her  own  feelings.  The  smile  on  the 
other's  lips  deepened  and  then  passed  away. 

"  Ah,"  she  murmured,  as  with  a  little  bow  she 
turned  towards  the  door,  "  you  are  not  all  snow  and 
ice,  then !  There  is  something  of  the  woman  in  you. 
He  must  have  known  that.  I  am  better  content." 

Alone  in  the  box,  Maggie  was  confronted  once 
more  with  spectres.  She  felt  all  the  fear  and  the 
sweetness  of  this  new  awakening.  The  old  dangers 
and  problems,  the  danger  of  life  and  death,  the 
problem  of  her  well-ordered  days,  fell  away  from 
her  as  trifles.  There  was  wilder  music  in  the  world 
than  any  to  which  she  had  yet  listened,  —  music 
which  seemed  to  be  awakening  vibrant  melodies  in  her 
terrified  heart.  The  curtain  which  hung  about  the 
forbidden  world  had  been  suddenly  lifted.  Little 
shivers  of  fear  convulsed  her.  Her  standards  were 
confused,  her  whole  sense  of  values  disturbed.  Her 
primal  virginity,  left  to  itself  because  it  had  never 
needed  a  guard,  Had  suddenly  become  a  questioning 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  197 

thing.  She  sat  there  face  to  face  with  this  new 
phase  in  her  life.  She  was  not  even  conscious  of  the 
abrupt  pause  in  the  music,  the  agitated  murmur  of 
voices,  the  sudden  cessation  of  that  rhythmical  sweep 
of  footsteps  on  the  floor  below. 

The  door  of  the  box  was  once  more  opened.  Naida, 
attired  as  a  lady  of  the  Russian  Court,  entered,  fol 
lowed  by  Nigel.  Both  were  obviously  disturbed. 
Nigel,  who  was  in  ordinary  evening  dress,  carrying 
his  discarded  mask  in  his  hand,  was  paler  than  usual 
and  exceedingly  grave.  Naida's  dark  eyes,  too, 
seemed  filled  with  a  sense  of  awesome  things.  Al 
most  at  the  same  moment,  Maggie  realised  for  the 
first  time  that  the  music  had  ceased,  that  there  was 
a  hush  outside,  curiously  perceptible,  almost  audible. 

"  What  has  happened  ?  "  she  asked  breathlessly. 

Nigel  had  poured  out  a  glass  of  wine  and  was 
holding  it  to  Naida's  lips. 

4i  Something  very  terrible,"  he  said  quietly. 
"  Prince  Shan  was  murdered  in  his  box  there  a  few 
minutes  ago." 

Maggie  half  rose  to  her  feet.  The  walls  seemed 
spinning  round.  Then  she  looked  across  the  great 
empty  space.  The  still  figure  in  the  apple-green  coat 
had  disappeared. 

"  Prince  Shan  was  murdered  in  that  box,"  she  re 
peated,  "  a  few  minutes  ago  ?  " 

"  Yes !  "  Nigel  assented  gravely.  "  He  seems  to 
have  feared  something  of  the  sort,  for  he  had  two 


i98  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

servants  on  guard  outside  and  announced  that  he  was 
not  receiving  visitors  to-night.  No  one  knows  any 
particulars,  but  a  number  of  people  in  the  audi 
torium  saw  him  fall  sideways  from  his  chair.  When 
he  was  picked  up,  there  was  a  small  dagger  through 
his  heart." 

"Through  Prince  Shan's  heart?"  Maggie  per 
sisted  wildly. 

"  Yes ! " 

Suddenly  she  began  to  laugh.  It  was  a  strange, 
hysterical  ebullition  of  feeling,  frankly  horrifying. 
Naida  gazed  at  her  with  distended  eyes. 

"  Prince  Shan  has  never  been  here !  "  Maggie  ex 
plained  brokenly.  "  He  has  never  left  his  house  in 
Curzon  Street !  He  is  there  now !  " 

Nigel  shook  his  head. 

"  What  is  the  matter  with  you,  Maggie?  "  he  de 
manded.  "  Every  one  has  seen  Prince  Shan  here. 
You  spoke  of  him  yourself.  He  was  in  the  box  ex 
actly  opposite." 

She  shook  her  head. 

"  That  was  one  of  his  suite,"  she  cried.  "  I  know ! 
I  tell  you  I  know !  "  she  went  on,  her  voice  rising  a 
little.  "  Prince  Shan  is  safe  in  his  house  in  Curzon 
Street." 

"  How  can  you  possibly  know  this,  Maggie? " 
Naida  intervened  eagerly. 

"  Because  I  left  him  there  half  an  hour  ago,"  was 
the  tremulous  reply. 


CHAPTER  XXII 

There  is  in  the  Anglo-Saxon  temperament  an 
almost  feverish  desire  to  break  away  from  any  con 
dition  of  strain,  a  sort  of  shamefaced  impulse  to 
discard  emotionalism.  The  strange  hush  which  had 
lent  a  queer  sensation  of  unreality  to  all  that  was 
passing  in  the  great  building  was  without  any  warn 
ing  brought  to  an  end.  Whispers  swelled  into 
speech,  and  speech  into  almost  a  roar  of  voices. 
Then  the  music  struck  up,  although  at  first  there 
were  few  who  cared  to  dance.  There  were  many 
who,  like  Maggie  and  her  companions,  silently  left 
their  places  and  hurried  homewards. 

In  the  limousine  scarcely  a  word  was  spoken. 
Maggie  leaned  back  in  her  seat,  her  face  dazed  and 
expressionless.  Opposite  to  her,  Nigel  sat  with  set, 
grim  face,  looking  with  fixed  stare  out  of  the  window 
at  the  deserted  streets.  Of  the  three,  Naida  seemed 
more  on  the  point  of  giving  way  to  emotion.  They 
had.  passed  Hyde  Park  Corner,  however,  before  a 
word  was  spoken.  Then  it  was  she  who  broke  the 
silence. 

"  Where  do  we  go  to  first  ?  "  she  demanded. 

"  To  the  Milan  Court,"  Nigel  replied. 


200  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

"  You  are  taking  me  home  first,  then?  " 

«  Yes ! " 

She  was  silent  for  a  moment.  Then  she  leaned 
forward  and  touched  the  window. 

"  Pull  that  down,  please,"  she  directed.  "  I  am 
stifling." 

He  obeyed,  and  the  rush  of  cold,  wet  air  had  a 
curiously  quietening  effect  upon  the  nerves  of  all  of 
them.  Raindrops  hung  from  the  leaves  of  the  lime 
trees  and  still  glittered  upon  the  windowpane.  On 
the  way  towards  the  river,  the  masses  of  cloud  were 
tinged  with  purple,  and  faintly  burning  stars  shone 
out  of  unexpectedly  clear  patches  of  sky.  The 
night  of  storm  was  over,  but  the  wind,  dying  away 
before  the  dawn,  seemed  to  bring  with  it  all  the  sweet 
ness  of  the  cleansed  places,  to  be  redolent  even  of 
the  budding  trees  and  shrubs,  —  the  lilac  bushes, 
drooping  with  their  weight  of  moisture,  and  the  pink 
and  white  chestnut  blossoms,  dashed  to  pieces  by 
the  rain  but  yielding  up  their  lives  with  sweetness. 
The  streets,  in  that  single  hour  between  the  hurrying 
homewards  of  the  belated  reveller  and  the  stolid 
tramp  of  the  early  worker,  were  curiously  empty  and 
seemed  to  gain  in  their  loneliness  a  new  dignity. 
Trafalgar  Square,  with  the  National  Gallery  in  the 
background,  became  almost  classical;  Whitehall  the 
passageway  for  heroes. 

"What  does  it  all  mean?"  Naida  asked,  almost 
pathetically. 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN          201 

It  was  Maggie  who  answered.  Her  tone  was  life 
less,  but  her  manner  almost  composed. 

"  It  means  that  the  attempt  to  assassinate  Prince 
Shan  has  failed,"  she  said.  "  Prince  Shan  told  me 
himself  that  he  had  no  intention  of  going  to  the  ball. 
He  kept  his  word.  The  man  who  was  murdered  was 
one  of  his  suite." 

"  But  how  do  you  know  this  ?  "  Naida  persisted. 

"  You  heard  what  I  told  you  in  the  box,"  was  the 
quiet  reply.  "  I  shall  explain  —  as  much  as  I  can 
explain  —  to  Nigel  when  we  get  home.  He  can  tell 
you  everything  later  on  to-day  at  lunch-time,  if  you 
like." 

"  It  has  been  one  of  the  strangest  nights  I  ever 
remember,"  Naida  declared,  after  a  brief  pause. 
"  Oscar  Immelan,  who  was  dining  with  us,  arrived 
half  an  hour  late.  I  have  never  seen  him  in  svfch  a 
condition  before.  He  had  the  air  of  a  broken  man." 

"  Have  you  any  idea  of  what  had  happened?  " 
Nigel  asked. 

"  Only  this,"  Naida  replied.  "  We  saw  Prince 
Shan  last  night.  He  spent  several  hours  with  us. 
I  may  be  wrong,  but  I  came  to  the  conclusion  then 
that  he  had  at  any  rate  modified  his  views  about 
the  whole  situation  since  his  arrival  in  England." 

Again  there  was  a  brief  silence.  The  minds  of  all 
three  of  them  were  busy  with  the  same  thought. 
Prince  Shan's  word  had  been  spoken  and  Immelan's 
hopes  dashed  to  the  ground,  —  and  within  a  few 


202  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

hours,  this  murder!  They  nursed  the  thought,  but 
no  one  put  it  into  words. 

A  sleepy-eyed  porter  opened  the  door  of  the  car 
outside  the  Milan  Court.  Naida  gathered  herself 
together  with  a  little  shiver. 

"  I  think  that  after  to-night,"  she  said  quietly, 
"  there  need  be  no  secrets  between  any  of  us.'* 

Nigel  held  her  hand  in  his.  Their  eyes  met,  and 
both  of  them  were  conscious,  in  that  moment,  of 
closer  personal  relations,  of  the  passing  of  a  certain 
sense  of  strain.  She  even  smiled  as  she  turned 
away. 

"  To-morrow,"  she  concluded,  "  there  must  be  a 
great  exchange  of  confidences.  I  am  lunching  at 
Belgrave  Square,  if  Maggie  has  not  forgotten,  and 
I  shall  tell  you  then  what  I  have  written  to  Paul 
Matinsky.  I  showed  it  to  Prince  Shan  yesterday. 
Good  night !  " 

She  patted  Maggie's  hand  affectionately  and 
flitted  away.  The  revolving  doors  closed  behind  her, 
and  the  car  swung  out  once  more  into  the  Strand, 
glided  down  the  Mall,  past  Buckingham  Palace,  and 
stopped  at  last  before  the  great,  lifeless  house  in 
Belgrave  Square.  Nigel  opened  the  front  door  with 
a  latchkey  and  turned  on  the  light. 

"  You  won't  mind  sparing  me  a  few  minutes  ?  *' 
he  begged. 

"  I  suppose  not,"  she  answered,  shivering. 

He  led  the  way  to  the  study.     She  threw  off  her 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN          203 

cloak  and  sank  into  the  depths  of  one  of  the  big 
easy-chairs.  She  looked  very  frail  and  rather 
pathetic  as  she  leaned  her  head  against  the  chair 
back.  Now  that  the  excitement  was  over,  the  strain 
of  the  emotion  she  had  experienced  showed  in  the 
violet  shadows  under  her  eyes  and  in  the  droop  of 
her  shoulders. 

"  I  am  tired,"  she  said  plaintively. 

Nigel  came  over  and  sat  on  the  arm  of  her  chair. 

"  Tell  me  what  happened  to-night,  Maggie." 

"  The  little  Chinese  girl  sent  for  me  to  go  to  her 
box,"  she  explained.  "  She  told  me  where  in  Prince 
Shan's  house  were  hidden  the  papers  which  revealed 
the  understanding  between  Immelan  and  himself. 
She  gave  me  a  key  of  the  house  and  a  key  of  the 
cabinet.  We  could  both  see  the  man  whom  I  believed 
to  be  Prince  Shan  seated  in  his  box.  She  assured 
me  that  he  would  be  there  for  the  next  two  hours.  I 
went  to  the  house  in  Curzon  Street." 

"Well?" 

His  monosyllable  was  sharp  and  incisive.  His  face 
was  grey  and  anxious.  She  herself  remained  lifeless. 
All  that  there  was  of  emotion  between  them  seemed 
to  have  become  vested  in  his  searching  eyes. 

"  I  found  what  I  believe  to  have  been  the  papers. 
They  were  in  the  cabinet,  just  where  she  had  told 
me.  Then  I  turned  around  and  found  Prince  Shan 
watching  me.  He  had  been  there  all  the  time." 

"  Go  on,  please." 


204  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

"  At  first  he  said  little,  but  I  knew  that  he  was 
very  angry.  I  have  never  felt  so  ashamed  in  my 
life." 

"  You  must  tell  me  the  rest,  please.'* 

She  stirred  uneasily  in  her  chair. 

"  It  is  very  difficult,"  she  confessed  frankly. 

"  Remember,"  he  persisted,  "  that  in  a  way, 
Mnggie,  I  am  your  guardian.  I  am  responsible,  too, 
for  anything  which  may  happen  to  you  whilst  you 
are  engaged  in  work  for  the  good  of  our  cause.  You 
seem  to  have  walked  into  a  trap.  Did  he  threaten 
you,  or  what?  " 

"  There  was  nothing  definite,"  she  answered, 
"  and  yet  —  he  made  me  understand." 

"  Made  you  understand  what  ?  " 

"  His  wishes,"  she  replied,  looking  up  coolly. 
"  He  offered  me  the  papers." 

"  That  damned  Chinaman !  " 

There  was  a  cold  light  in  her  eyes  which  Nigel 
had  met  with  before  and  dreaded. 

"  You  forget  yourself,  Nigel,"  she  said.  "  Prince 
Shan  is  a  great  nobleman." 

"  The  rest  ?    Tell  me  the  rest,"  he  demanded. 

"  I  am  here,"  she  reminded  him. 

"  And  the  papers  ?  " 

"  I  came  away  without  them." 

He  turned,  and,  walking  to  the  window,  threw 
it  open.  The  dawn  had  become  almost  silvery,  and 
the  leaves  of  the  overhanging  trees  were  rustling 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  205 

in  the  faintest  of  breezes.     Presently  he  came  back. 

'*  What  exactly  are  your  feelings  for  this  man, 
Maggie?  "  he  asked. 

For  the  first  time  he  was  struck  with  a  certain 
pathos  in  her  immobile  face.  She  looked  up  at  him, 
and  there  was  a  gleam  almost  of  fear  in  her  eyes. 

"  I  don't  know,  Nigel,"  she  confessed. 

He  moved  restlessly  about  the  room,  seemed  to 
notice  for  the  first  time  the  whisky  and  soda  set  out 
upon  the  sideboard  and  the  open  box  of  cigarettes. 
He  helped  himself  and  came  back. 

"  Did  you  read  the  papers  ?  "  he  asked. 

She  shook  her  head. 

"  I  had  no  chance." 

"  You  don't  know  for  certain  what  they  were 
about?" 

"  I  think  I  do,"  she  replied.  "  I  believe  they  con 
tained  the  text  of  the  agreement  between  Immelan 
and  Prince  Shan.  I  believe  they  would  have  shown 
us  exactly  what  we  have  to  fear." 

He  stood  there  for  a  moment  thoughtfully. 

"  To-night,"  he  said,  "  I  find  it  difficult  to  concen 
trate  upon  these  things.  Naida  was  extraordinarily 
hopeful.  She  has  seen  Prince  Shan,  and  between  them 
I  believe  that  they  have  decided  to  let  Oscar  Imme- 
lan's  scheme  alone.  Karschoff,  too,  has  heard 
rumours.  He  is  of  the  same  opinion.  Somehow  or 
other,  though,  I  seem  to  have  lost  my  sense  of  per- 


206  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

spective.     A  greater  fear  has  come  into  my  heart, 
Maggie." 

She  rose  to  her  feet  and  laid  her  hands  upon  his 
.shoulders. 

"  Nigel,"  she  whispered,  "  I  cannot  answer  you.  I 
cannot  say  what  you  would  like  me  to  say,  although, 
on  the  other  hand,  there  is  no  surety  of  what  you 
seem  to  fear.  I  am  going  to  bed.  I  am  very  tired." 

A  feeble  shaft  of  sunlight  stole  into  the  room, 
flickered  and  passed  away,  then  suddenly  reap 
peared.  Nigel  turned  and  opened  the  door,  and  she 
passed  out,  curiously  silent  and  absorbed.  He  looked 
after  her,  perplexed  and  worried.  Suddenly  a 
.strangely  commonplace,  yet  —  in  the  silence  of  the 
house  and  the  great  hall  —  an  almost  dramatic  sound 
startled  him.  The  front  doorbell  rang  sharply. 
After  a  moment's  hesitation,  he  hurried  to  it  himself. 
Itarschoff  stood  upon  the  steps,  still  in  his  evening 
clothes,  his  face  a  little  drawn  and  haggard  in  the 
bright  light. 

"  I  could  not  resist  coming  in,  Nigel,"  he  said. 
"  I  saw  the  light  in  the  study  from  outside.  Is  there 
any  definite  news?  " 

Nigel  drew  him  inside. 

"  There  are  indications,"  he  replied  cautiously, 
"  that  the  present  danger  is  passing." 

KarschofF  nodded. 

"  I  gathered  so  from  Naida,"  he  admitted. 
""  Prince  Shan,  though,  is  the  pivot  upon  which  the 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  207 

whole  thing  turns.     You  have  heard  nothing  final 
from  him?  " 

"  Nothing!  Tell  me,  was  any  one  arrested  at  the 
Albert  Hall?" 

"  No  one.  The  murdered  man,  as  I  suppose  you 
have  heard,  was  Sen  Lu,  one  of  the  Prince's  secre 
taries."  \ 

"  The  whole  thing  seems  strange,"  Nigel  remarked. 
"  Do  you  suppose  Prince  Shan  knew  that  an  attempt 
upon  his  life  was  likely  to-night?  " 

Karschoff  shook  his  head  doubtfully. 

'*  It  is  difficult  to  say.  These  Orientals  contrive 
to  surround  themselves  with  such  an  atmosphere  of 
mystery.  But  from  what  I  know  of  Prince  Shan," 
he  went  on,  "I  do  not  think  that  he  is  one  to  shirk 
danger  —  even  from  the  assassin's  dagger." 

A  milk  cart  drew  up  with  a  clatter  outside.  There 
was  the  sound  of  the  area  gate  being  opened.  Kar 
schoff  put  on  his  hat.  He  looked  Nigel  in  the  face. 

"  Maggie,"  he  began 

Nigel  nodded  understandingly  as  he  threw  open 
the  front  door. 

"  I'll  tell  you  about  it  to-morrow,"  he  promised, 
"  or  rather  later  on  to-day.  She's  a  little  over 
wrought.  Otherwise  —  there's  nothing." 

Karschoff  turned  away  with  a  sigh  of  relief. 

"  I  am  glad,"  he  said.  "  Prince  Shan  is  the  soul 
of  honour  according  to  his  own  standard,  but  these 
Orientals  —  one  never  knows.  I  am  glad,  Nigel." 


CHAPTER  XXIH 

In  his  spacious  reception  room,  with  its  blue  walls, 
the  high  vases  of  flowers,  the  faint  odour  of  incense, 
its  indefinable  ascetic  charm,  Prince  Shan  sat  in  his 
high-backed  chair  whilst  Li  Wen,  his  trusted  secre 
tary,  talked.  Li  Wen  was  very  eloquent.  His  tone 
was  never  raised,  he  never  forgot  that  he  was  speak 
ing  to  a  being  of  a  superior  world.  He  had  a  great 
deal  to  say,  however,  and  he  was  eager  to  say  it. 
Prince  Shan,  as  he  listened,  smoked  a  long  cigarette 
in  a  yellow  tube.  He  wore  a  ring  in  which  was  set 
an  uncut  green  stone  on  the  fourth  finger  of  his  left 
hand.  Although  the  hour  was  barely  nine  o'clock, 
he  was  shaved  and  dressed  as  though  for  a  visit  of 
ceremony.  He  listened  to  Li  Wen  gravely  and 
critically. 

"  I  am  sorry  about  the  little  one,"  he  said,  look 
ing  through  the  cloud  of  tobacco  smoke  up  towards 
the  ceiling.  "  Nita  has  been  very  useful.  She  has 
been  as  faithful,  too,  as  is  possible  for  a  woman." 

Li  Wen  bowed  and  waited.  He  knew  better  than 
to  interrupt. 

"  It  was  through  the  information  which  Nita 
brought  me,"  his  master  went  on,  "  that  I  have  been 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  209 

able  to  check  the  truth  of  Immelan's  statement  as 
to  the  French  dispositions  and  the  rapprochement 
with  Italy.  Nita  has  served  me  very  well  indeed. 
What  she  has  done  in  this  matter,  she  has  done  in 
a  moment  of  caprice." 

"  My  lord,"  Li  Wen  ventured,  "  a  woman  is  of  no 
account  in  the  plans  of  the  greatest.  She  is  like  a 
leaf  blown  hither  or  thither  on  the  winds  of  love 
or  jealousy.  She  may  be  used,  but  she  must  be 
discarded." 

"  It  is  a  strange  world,  this  western  world,"  Prince 
Shan  mused.  "  In  our  own  country,  Li  Wen,  we  plot 
or  we  fight,  we  build  the  great  places,  climb  to  the 
lofty  heights,  and  when  we  rest  we  pluck  flowers, 
and  women  are  our  flowers.  But  here,  while  one 
builds,  the  women  are  there;  while  one  climbs,  the 
women  are  in  the  way.  They  jostle  the  thoughts, 
they  disturb  the  emotions,  not  only  of  the  poet  and 
the  pleasure  seeker,  but  of  the  man  who  hews  his 
way  upwards  to  the  goal  he  seeks.  And  it  is  very 
deliberate,  Li  Wen.  An  Englishman  eats  and  drinks 
in  public  and  places  opposite  him  a  flower  he  has 
plucked  or  hopes  to  pluck.  He  drugs  himself  delib 
erately.  Half  the  time  when  he  should  be  soaring 
in  his  thoughts,  he  descends  of  deliberate  intent. 
Instead  of  his  flower,  he  makes  his  woman  the  part 
ner  of  his  grossness." 

"  The  master  speaks,"  Li  Wen  murmured.  "  But 
what  of  the  woman?  She  awaits  your  pleasure." 


aio  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

"  I  shall  hear  what  she  has  to  say,"  Prince  Shan 
decided. 

Walking  backwards  as  nimbly  as  a  cat,  his  head 
drooped,  his  hands  in  front  of  him,  Li  Wen  left 
his  master's  presence.  A  moment  later  he  reap 
peared,  ushering  in  La  Belle  Nita.  Prince  Shan 
waved  him  away.  The  girl  came  slowly  forward, 
pale  and  trembling,  smouldering  fires  in  her  narrow 
eyes.  Not  a  muscle  of  Prince  Shan's  face  moved. 
He  watched  her  approach  in  silence.  She  sank  on 
to  the  floor  by  the  side  of  his  chair. 

"  What  is  my  master's  will?  "  she  asked. 

Prince  Shan  looked  downwards  at  her,  and  she  be 
gan  to  tremble  again.  There  was  nothing  threaten 
ing  in  his  eyes,  nothing  menacing  in  his  expression. 
Nevertheless,  she  felt  the  chill  of  death. 

"  You  have  done  me  many  good  and  faithful  ser 
vices,  Nita,"  he  said.  "  What  evil  spirit  has  put  it 
into  your  brain  that  it  would  be  a  good  thing  to 
deceive  me?  " 

Her  scarlet  lips  opened  and  closed  again. 

"  How  have  I  deceived?"  she  faltered.  "I  gave 
the  keys  to  the  woman  with  the  blue  eyes,  and  I  sent 
her  to  my  lord.  It  was  a  hard  thing  to  do  that,  but 
I  did  it.  Was  there  any  risk  of  evil?  My  lord  was 
here  to  deal  with  her." 

"  Why  did  you  do  this  thing,  Nita  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  My  lord  knows,"  she  answered  simply.  "  I  did 
it  to  bring  evil  upon  this  English  woman  whom  he 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  air 

has  preferred.  I  did  it  that  he  might  understand. 
It  was  my  lord  himself  who  told  me  that  she  was  a 
spy.  Now  it  is  proved.'* 

Prince  Shan's  fingers  stole  into  the  pocket  of  his 
coat.  He  held  out  a  crumpled  sheet  of  paper,  on. 
which  was  written  a  single  sentence.  The  girl  began 
to  shiver. 

"  You  have  been  very  anxious  indeed,  Nita,"  he 
said,  "  to  bring  evil  upon  this  woman.  This  is  the 
message  you  sent  to  Immelan.  Do  you  recognise 
your  words  ?  Listen,  these  are  your  words : 

"  '  The  greatest  of  all  will  desert  you,  if  the 
Englishwoman  whom  he  loves  is  not  speedily  removed- 
Even  to-night  he  may  give  papers  into  her  hand,  and 
your  secret  will  be  known.' ' 

The  girl  sat  transfixed.  She  seemed  to  have  lost 
all  power  of  speech. 

"  That  is  a  copy  of  the  message  which  you  sent 
to  Immelan,"  he  told  her  sternly. 

"  It  is  the  terrible  Li  Wen,"  she  faltered.  "  He 
has  the  second  sight.  The  devil  walks  with  him." 

"  The  devil  is  sometimes  a  useful  confederate," 
her  companion  continued  equably.  "  You  warned 
Immelan  that  it  was  in  my  mind  to  refuse  his  terms 
and  to  open  my  heart  to  the  Englishwoman,  and  you 
seduced  Sen  Lu  to  carry  your  message.  Yet  your 
judgment  was  at  fault.  The  hand  of  Immelan  was 
stretched  out  against  me,  and  me  alone.  But  for  my 
knowledge  of  these  things,  I  might  have  sat  in  the 


212          THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

place  of  Sen  Lu,  who  rightly  died  in  my  stead.  What 
have  you  to  say  ?  " 

She  rose  to  her  feet.  He  made  no  movement,  but 
his  eyes  watched  her,  and  the  muscles  of  his  body 
stiffened.  He  watched  the  white  hand  which  stole 
irresolutely  towards  the  loose  folds  of  her  coat. 

"  You  ask  me  why  I  have  done  this,"  she  cried, 
"  but  you  already  know.  It  is  because  you  have 
taken  this  woman  with  the  blue  eyes  into  your  heart." 

"  If  that  were  true,"  he  answered,  "  of  what  con 
cern  is  it  to  others?  I  am  Prince  Shan." 

"  You  sent  me  here  to  breathe  this  cursed 
western  atmosphere,"  she  moaned,  "  to  drink  in  their 
thoughts  and  see  with  their  eyes.  I  see  and  know 
the  folly  of  it  all,  but  who  can  escape?  Jealousy 
with  us  is  a  disease.  Over  there  one  creeps  away 
like  a  hurt  animal  because  there  is  nothing  else. 
Here  it  is  different.  The  Frenchwoman,  the  English 
woman,  who  loses  her  lover  —  she  does  not  fold  her 
hands.  She  strikes,  she  is  a  wronged  creature.  I 
too  have  felt  that." 

Her  master  sat  for  long  in  silence. 

"  You  are  right,"  he  pronounced.  "  I  shall  try 
to  be  just.  You  are  a  person  of  small  understanding. 
You  have  never  made  any  effort  to  live  with  your 
head  in  the  clouds.  Let  that  be  so.  The  fault  was 
mine." 

"I  do  not  wish  to  live,"  she  cried. 

He  shrugged  his  shoulders. 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN          213 

"  Live  or  die  —  what  does  it  matter  ?  "  he  an 
swered  indifferently.  "  With  life  there  is  pain,  and 
with  death  there  is  none,  but  if  you  choose  life,  re 
member  this.  The  woman  with  the  blue  eyes,  as 
you  call  her,  has  become  the  star  of  my  life.  If 
harm  should  come  to  her,  not  only  you,  but  every 
one  of  your  family  and  race,  in  whatsoever  part 
of  the  world  they  may  be,  will  leave  this  life  in 
agony." 

The  girl  stood  and  wondered. 

"  My  lord  thinks  so  much  of  a  plaything?  "  she 
murmured. 

Prince  Shan  frowned.  His  finely  shaped,  silky 
eyebrows  almost  met.  She  covered  her  eyes  and 
drooped  her  head. 

"  We  of  the  East,"  he  said,  "  although  we  are 
the  mightier  race,  progress  slowly,  because  the 
love  of  new  things  is  not  with  us.  Something  of 
western  ways  I  have  learned,  and  the  love  of  woman. 
It  is  not  for  a  plaything  I  desire  her  whom  we  will 
not  name.  She  shall  sit  by  my  side  and  rule.  I 
shall  wed  her  with  my  brain  as  with  my  body.  Our 
minds  will  move  together.  We  shall  feel  the  same 
shivering  pleasure  when  we  rule  the  world  with  great 
thoughts  as  when  our  bodies  touch.  I  shall  teach 
her  to  know  her  soul,  even  as  my  own  has  been 
revealed  to  me." 

"  No  woman  is  worthy  of  this,  my  lord,"  the  girl 
faltered. 


214          THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

He  waved  his  hand  and  she  stole  away.  At  the 
door  he  stopped  her. 

"  Do  you  go  to  life  or  death,  Nita?  "  he  asked. 

She  looked  at  him  with  a  great  sorrow. 

"  I  am  a  worthless  thing,"  she  replied.  "  I  go 
where  my  lord's  words  have  sent  me." 

Li  Wen  reappeared  presently  for  an  appointed 
audience.  He  brought  messages. 

"  Highness,"  he  announced,  "  there  is  a  code  dis 
patch  here  from  Ki-Chou.  An  American  gained 
entrance  to  the  City  last  week.  Yesterday  he  left 
by  aeroplane  for  India.  He  was  overtaken  and  cap 
tured.  It  is  feared,  however,  that  he  has  agents  over 
the  frontier,  for  no  papers  were  found  upon  him." 

"  It  was  a  great  achievement,"  Prince  Shan  said 
thoughtfully.  "  No  other  foreigner  has  ever  passed 
into  our  secret  city.  Is  there  word  as  to  how  he 
got  there?  " 

"  He  came  as  a  Russian  artificer  from  that  city 
in  Russia  of  which  we  do  not  speak,"  Li  Wen  replied. 
"  He  brought  letters,  and  his  knowledge  was  great." 

"  His  name?  "  the  Prince  asked. 

"  Gilbert  Jesson,  Highness.  His  passport  and 
papers  refer  to  Washington,  but  his  message,  if  he 
sent  one,  is  believed  to  have  come  to  London." 

"  The  man  must  die,"  the  Prince  said  calmly. 
"  That,  without  doubt,  he  expects.  Yet  the  news  is 
not  serious.  My  heart  has  spoken  for  peace,  Li 
Wen." 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN          215 

Li  Wen  bowed  low.  His  master  watched  him 
curiously. 

"  If  I  had  asked  it,  Li  Wen,  where  would  your 
counsel  have  led  ?  " 

"  Towards  peace,  Highness.  I  do  not  trust  Imme- 
lan.  It  is  not  in  such  a  manner  that  China's  Empire 
shall  spread.  There  are  ancestors  of  mine  '  who 
would  turn  in  their  graves  to  find  China  in  league 
with  a  western  Power." 

"  You  are  a  wise  man,  Li  Wen,"  his  master  de 
clared.  "  We  hold  the  mastery  of  the  world.  What 
shall  we  do  with  it?  " 

"  The  mightiest  sword  is  that  which  enforces 
peace,"  was  the  calm  reply.  "  Highness,  the  lady 
whom  you  were  expecting  waits  in  the  anteroom." 

Prince  Shan  nodded.  He  welcomed  Naida,  who 
was  ushered  in  a  moment  or  two  later,  with  rather 
more  than  his  usual  grave  and  pleasant  courtesy, 
leading  her  himself  to  a  chair. 

"  I  wondered,"  she  confessed,  "  if  I  were  ever  to  be 
allowed  to  see  inside  your  wonderful  house." 

"  It  is  my  misfortune  to  be  compelled  to  pay  so 
brief  a  visit  to  this  country,"  he  replied.  "  As  a 
rule,  it  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  open  my  rooms 
three  evenings  and  entertain  those  who  care  to  come 
and  see  me." 

"  I  have  heard  of  your  entertainments,"  she  said, 
smiling.  "  Prima  donnas  sing.  You  rob  the  capitals 
of  Europe  to  find  your  music.  Then  the  great  Mon- 


2i6          THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

sieur  Auguste  is  lured  from  Paris  to  prepare  your 
supper,  and  not  a  lady  leaves  without  some  priceless 
jewel." 

"  I  entertain  so  seldom,"  he  reminded  her.  "  I 
fear  that  the  fame  of  my  feasts  has  been  exag 
gerated." 

"  When  do  you  leave,  Prince?  "  she  asked  him. 

"  Within  a  few  days,"  he  replied. 

"  I  come  for  your  last  word,"  she  announced. 
"  All  that  I  have  written  to  Paul  Matinsky  you 
know." 

"  The  last  word  is  not  yet  to  be  spoken,'*  he  said. 
"  This,  however,  you  may  tell  Matinsky.  The  scheme 
of  Oscar  Immelan  has  been  laid  before  me.  I  have 
rejected  it." 

"  In  what  other  way,  then,  would  you  use  your 
power?  "  she  asked. 

He  made  no  answer.  She  watched  him  with  a  great 
and  growing  curiosity. 

"  Prince,"  she  said,  "  they  tell  me  that  you  are 
a  great  student  of  history." 

"  I  have  read  what  is  known  of  the  history  of  most 
of  the  countries  of  the  world,"  he  admitted. 

"  There  have  been  men,"  she  persisted,  "  who  have 
dealt  in  empires  for  the  price  of  a  woman's  smile." 

"  Such  men  have  loved,"  he  said,  "  as  I  love." 

"  Yet  for  you  life  has  always  been  a  great  and 
lofty  thing,"  she  reminded  him.  "  You  could  not 
stand  where  you  do  if  you  had  not  realised  the  beauty 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  217 

and  wonder  of  sacrifice.  Fate  has  given  the  peace 
of  the  world  into  your  keeping.  You  will  not  juggle 
with  the  trust?" 

He  rose  to  his  feet.  A  servant  stood  almost  im 
mediately  at  the  open  door. 

"  Fate  and  an  American  engineer,"  he  remarked 
with  a  smile.  "  I  thank  you,  dear  lady,  for  your 
visil .  You  will  hear  my  news  before  I  leave." 

She  looked  into  his  eyes  for  a  moment. 

"  It  is  a  great  decision,"  she  said,  "  which  rests 
with  you !  " 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

An  hour  or  so  later,  Prince  Shan  left  his  house 
in  Curzon  Street  and,  followed  at  a  discreet  distance 
by  two  members  of  his  household,  strolled  into  the 
Park.  It  had  pleased  him  that  morning  to  conform 
rigorously  to  the  mode  of  dress  adopted  by  the 
fashionable  citizens  of  the  country  which  he  was 
visiting.  Few  people,  without  the  closest  observa 
tion,  would  have  taken  him  for  anything  but  a  well- 
turned-out,  exceedingly  handsome  and  distinguished- 
looking  Englishman.  He  carried  himself  with  a  faint 
air  of  aloofness,  as  though  he  moved  amongst  scenes 
in  which  he  had  no  actual  concern,  as  though  he 
were  living,  in  thought  at  any  rate,  in  some  other 
world.  The  morning  was  brilliantly  sunny,  and  both 
the  promenade  and  the  Row  were  crowded.  Slightly 
hidden  behind  a  tree,  he  stood  and  watched.  A  gay 
crowd  of  promenaders  passed  along  the  broad  path, 
and  the  air  was  filled  with  the  echo  of  laughter,  the 
jargon  of  the  day,  intimate  references  to  a  common 
world,  invitations  lightly  given  and  lightly  accepted. 
It  was  Sunday  morning,  in  a  season  when  colour  was 
the  craze  of  the  moment,  and  the  women  who  swept 
by  seemed  to  his  rather  mystical  fancy  like  the 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  219 

flowers  in  some  of  the  great  open  spaces  he  knew  so 
well,  stirred  into  movement  by  a  soft  wind.  They 
were  very  beautiful,  these  western  women ;  handsome, 
too,  the  men  with  whom  they  talked  and  flirted. 
Always  they  had  that  air,  however,  of  absolute  com 
placency,  as  though  they  felt  nothing  of  the  quest 
which  lay  like  a  thread  of  torture  amongst  the 
nerves  of  Prince  Shan's  being.  There  was  no  more 
distinguished  figure  among  the  men  there  than  he 
himself,  and  yet  the  sense  of  alienation  grew  in  his 
heart  as  he  watched.  There  were  many  familiar 
faces,  many  to  whom  he  could  have  spoken,  no  one 
who  would  not  have  greeted  him  with  interest,  even 
with  gratification.  And  yet  he  had  never  been  so 
deeply  conscious  of  the  gulf  which  lay  between  the 
oriental  fatalism  of  his  life  and  ways  and  the  placid 
self-assurance  of  these  westerners,  so  well-content 
with  the  earth  upon  which  their  feet  fell.  He  had 
judged  with  perfect  accuracy  the  place  which  he  held 
in  their  thoughts  and  estimation.  He  was  something 
of  a  curiosity,  his  title  half  a  joke,  the  splendour  of 
his  long  race  a  thing  unrealisable  by  these  scions  of 
a  more  recent  aristocracy.  Yet  supposing  that  this 
new  wonder  had  not  come  into  his  life,  that  Immelan 
had  been  a  shade  more  eloquent,  had  pleaded  his 
cause  upon  a  higher  level,  that  Naida  Karetsky  also 
had  formed  a  different  impression  of  the  world  which 
he  was  studying  so  earnestly,  —  what  a  transforma 
tion  he  could  have  brought  upon  this  light-hearted 


220          THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

and  joyous  scene!  The  scales  had  so  nearly  bal 
anced;  at  the  bottom  of  his  heart  he  was  conscious 
of  a  certain  faint  contempt  for  the  almost  bovine 
self-satisfaction  of  a  nation  without  eyes.  Litera 
ture  and  painting,  art  in  all  its  far-flung  branches, 
even  science,  were  suffering  in  these  days  from  a  gen 
eral  and  paralysing  inertia.  Life  which  demanded 
no  sacrifice  of  anybody  was  destructive  of  everything 
in  the  nature  of  aspiration.  Sport  seemed  to  be  the 
only  incentive  to  sobriety,  the  desire  to  live  long 
in  this  fat  land  the  only  brake  upon  an  era  of  self- 
indulgence.  He  looked  eastwards  to  where  his  own 
millions  were  toiling,  with  his  day-by-day  maxims  in 
their  ears,  and  it  seemed  to  his  elastic  fancy  that  he 
was  inhaling  a  long  breath  of  cooler  and  more 
vigorous  life. 

The  current  of  his  reflections  was  broken.  He 
had  moved  a  little  towards  the  rails,  and  he  was 
instantly  aware  of  the  girl  cantering  towards  him, 
— a  slight,  frail  figure,  she  seemed,  upon  a  great  bay 
horse.  She  wore  a  simple  brown  habit  and  bowler 
hat,  and  she  sat  her  horse  with  that  complete  lack  of 
self-consciousness  which  is  the  heritage  of  a  born 
horsewoman.  She  was  looking  up  at  the  sky  as  she 
cantered  towards  him,  with  no  thought  of  the  crowds 
passing  along  the  promenade.  Yet,  as  she  drew 
nearer,  she  suddenly  glanced  down,  and  their  eyes 
met.  As  though  obeying  his  unspoken  wish,  she 
reined  in  her  horse  and  came  close  to  the  rails  behind 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  221 

which  he  stood  for  a  moment  bareheaded.  There 
was  the  faintest  smile  upon  her  lips.  She  was  amaz 
ingly  composed.  She  had  asked  herself  repeatedly, 
almost  in  terror,  how  they  should  meet  when  the 
time  came.  Now  that  it  had  happened,  it  seemed 
the  most  natural  thing  in  the  world.  She  was 
scarcely  conscious  even  of  embarrassment. 

"  You  are  demonstrating  to  the  world,"  she  re 
marked,  "  that  the  reports  of  your  death  this  morn 
ing  were  exaggerated?  " 

"  I  had  forgotten  the  incident,"  he  assured  her 
calmly. 

His  callousness  was  so  unaffected  that  she  shivered 
a  little. 

"  Yet  this  Sen  Lu,  this  man  for  whom  you  were 
mistaken,  was  an  intimate  member  of  your  house 
hold,  was  he  not?  " 

"  Sen  Lu  was  a  very  good  friend,"  Prince  Shan 
answered.  "  He  did  his  duty  for  many  years.  If 
he  knows  now  that  his  life  was  taken  for  mine,  he 
is  happy  to  have  made  such  atonement." 

She  manoeuvred  her  horse  a  little  to  be  nearer  to 
him. 

"  Why  was  Sen  Lu  murdered?  "  she  asked. 

"  There  are  those,"  he  replied,  "  of  whom  I  myself 
shall  ask  that  question  before  the  day  is  over." 

"  You  have  an  idea,  then?  "  she  persisted. 

"  If,"  he  said,  "  you  desire  my  whole  confidence,  it 
is  yours." 


1222          THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

She  sat  looking  between  her  horse's  ears. 

"  To  tell  you  the  truth,"  she  confessed,  "  I  do 
not  know  what  I  desire.  Your  philosophy,  I  suppose, 
does  not  tolerate  moods.  I  shall  escape  from  them 
some  time,  I  expect,  but  just  now  I  seem  to  have 
found  my  way  into  a  maze.  The  faces  of  these  peo 
ple  don't  even  seem  real  to  me,  and  as  for  you,  I  am 
perfectly  certain  that  you  have  never  been  in  China 
in  your  life." 

"  Tell  me  the  stimulant  that  is  needed  to  raise  you 
from  your  apathy,"  he  asked.  "Will  you  find  it  in 
the  rapid  motion  of  your  horse  —  a  very  noble 
animal  —  in  the  joy  of  this  morning's  sunshine  and 
breeze,  or  in  the  toyland  where  these  puppets  move 
and  walk?  "  he  added,  glancing  down  the  promenade. 
*(  Dear  Lady  Maggie,  I  beg  permission  to  pay  you  a 
visit  of  ceremony.  Will  you  receive  me  this  after 
noon  ?  " 

She  knew  then  what  it  was  that  she  had  been  hop 
ing  for.  She  looked  down  at  him  and  smiled. 

"  At  four  o'clock,"  she  invited. 

She  nodded,  touched  her  horse  lightly  with  the 
whip,  and  cantered  off.  Prince  Shan  found  himself 
suddenly  accosted  by  a  dozen  acquaintances,  all 
plying  him  with  questions.  He  listened  to  them  with 
an  amused  smile. 

"  The  whole  affair  is  a  very  simple  one,"  he  said. 
"  A  member  of  my  household  was  assassinated  last 
night.  It  was  probably  a  plot  against  my  own  life. 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  223 

Those  things  are  more  common  with  us,  perhaps, 
than  over  here." 

"  Jolly  country,  China,  I  should  think,"  one  of 
the  younger  members  of  the  group  remarked.  "  You 
can  buy  a  man's  conscience  there  for  ninepence." 

Prince  Shan  looked  across  at  the  speaker  gravely. 

"  The  market  value  here,"  he  observed,  "  seems  a 
little  higher,  but  the  supply  greater." 

"  ToucJie! "  Karschoff  laughed.  "  There  is 
another  point  of  view,  too.  The  further  east  you 
go,  the  less  value  life  has.  Westwards,  it  becomes 
an  absolute  craze  to  preserve  and  coddle  it,  to  drag 
it  out  to  its  furthermost  span.  The  American  mil 
lionaire,  for  example,  has  a  resident  physician 
attached  to  his  household  and  is  likely  to  spend  the 
aftermath  of  his  life  in  a  semi-drugged  and  comatose 
condition.  And  in  the  East,  who  cares?  If  not  to 
day  —  to-morrow !  Inevitability,  which  is  the  night 
mare  of  the  West,  is  the  philosophy  of  the  East.  By 
the  by,  Prince,"  he  added,  "  have  you  any  theory  as 
to  last  night's  attempt?  " 

"  That  is  just  the  question,"  Prince  Shan  replied, 
"  which  two  very  intelligent  gentlemen  from  Scotland 
Yard  asked  me  this  morning.  Theory?  Why  should 
I  have  a  theory?  " 

"  The  attempt  was  without  a  doubt  directed 
against  you,"  Karschoff  observed.  "  Do  you  imagine 
that  it  was  personal  or  political?  " 

"  How  can  I  tell?  "  the  Prince  rejoined  carelessly, 


224  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

"  Why  should  any  one  desire  my  death?  These 
things  are  riddles.  Ah!  Here  comes  my  friend 
Immelan !  "  he  went  on.  "  Immelan,  help  us  in  this 
discussion.  You  are  not  one  of  those  who  place  the 
gift  of  life  above  all  other  things  in  the  world ! " 

"  My  own  or  another's  ?  "  Immelan  asked,  with 
blunt  cynicism. 

"  I  trust,"  was  the  bland  reply,  "  that  you  are,  as 
I  have  always  esteemed  you,  an  altruist." 

"And  why?" 

Prince  Shan  shrugged  his  shoulders.  He  was  a 
very  agreeable  figure  in  the  centre  of  the  little  group 
of  men,  the  hands  which  held  his  malacca  cane 
behind  his  back,  the  smile  which  parted  his  lips 
benign  yet  cryptic. 

"  Because,"  he  explained,  "  it  is  a  great  thing  to 
have  more  regard  for  the  lives  of  others  than  for 
one's  own,  and  there  are  times,"  he  added,  "  when  it 
is  certainly  one's  own  life  which  is  in  the  more  pre 
carious  state." 

There  was  a  little  dispersal  of  the  crowd,  a  chorus 
of  congratulations  and  farewells.  Immelan  and 
Prince  Shan  were  left  alone.  The  former  seemed 
to  have  turned  paler.  The  sun  was  warm,  and  yet 
he  shivered. 

"  Just  what  do  you  mean  by  that,  Prince?  "  he 
asked. 

"  You  shall  walk  with  me  to  my  house,  and  I  will 
tell  you,"  was  the  quiet  reply. 


CHAPTER  XXV 

"  I  suppose,"  Immelan  suggested,  as  the  two  men 
reached  the  house  in  Curzon  Street,  "  it  would  be 
useless  to  ask  you  to  break  your  custom  and  lunch 
with  me  at  the  Ritz  or  at  the  club?  " 

His  companion  smiled  deprecatingly. 

"  I  have  adopted  so  many  of  your  western  cus 
toms,"  he  said  apologetically.  "  To  this  lunching  or 
dining  in  public,  however,  I  shall  never  accustom 
myself." 

Immelan  laughed  good-naturedly.  The  conversa 
tion  of  the  two  men  on  their  way  from  the  Park  had 
been  without  significance,  and  some  part  of  his  earlier 
nervousness  seemed  to  be  leaving  him. 

"  We  all  have  our  foibles,"  he  admitted.  "  One 
of  mine  is  to  have  a  pretty  woman  opposite  me  wfaen 
I  lunch  or  dine,  music  somewhere  in  the  distance,  a 
little  sentiment,  a  little  promise,  perhaps.'* 

"  It  is  not  artistic,"  Prince  Shan  pronounced 
calmly.  "  It  is  not  when  the  wine  mounts  to  the 
head,  and  the  sense  of  feeding  fills  the  body,  that 
men  speak  best  of  the  things  that  iie  near  their 
hearts.  Still,  we  will  let  that  pass.  Each  of  us  is 
made  differently.  There  is  another  thing,  Immelan, 
which  I  have  to  say  to  you." 


226          THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

They  passed  into  the  reception  room,  with  its 
shining  floor,  its  marvellous  rugs,  its  silken  hang 
ings,  and  its  great  vases  of  flowers.  Prince  Shan 
led  his  companion  into  a  recess,  where  the  light 
failed  to  penetrate  so  completely  as  into  the  rest 
of  the  apartment.  A  wide  settee,  piled  with  cushions, 
protruded  from  the  wall  in  semicircular  shape.  In 
front  of  it  was  a  round  ebony  table,  upon  which  stood 
a  great  yellow  bowl  filled  with  lilies.  Prince  Shan 
gave  an  order  to  one  of  the  servants  who  had  fol 
lowed  them  into  the  room  and  threw  himself  at  full 
length  among  the  cushions,  his  head  resting  upon 
his  hand,  his  face  turned  towards  his  guest. 

"  They  will  bring  you  the  aperitif  of  which  you 
are  so  fond,"  he  said,  "  also  cigarettes.  Mine,  I 
know,  are  too  strong  for  you." 

"  They  taste  too  much  of  opium,"  Immelan  re 
marked. 

Prince  Shan's  eyes  grew  dreamy  as  he  gazed 
through  a  little  cloud  of  odorous  smoke. 

"  There  is  opium  in  them,"  he  admitted.  "  Be 
lieve  me,  they  are  very  wonderful,  but  I  agree  with 
you  that  they  are  not  for  the  ordinary  person." 

The  soft-footed  butler  presented  a  silver  tray, 
upon  which  reposed  a  glassful  of  amber  liquid. 
Immelan  took  it,  sipped  it  appreciatively,  and  lit  a 
cigarette. 

"  Your  man,  Prince,"  he  acknowledged,  "  mixes  his 
vermouths  wonderfully." 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  227 

"  I  am  glad  that  what  he  does  meets  with  your 
approval,"  was  the  courteous  reply.  "  He  came  to 
me  from  one  of  your  royal  palaces.  I  simply  told 
him  that  I  wished  my  guests  to  have  of  the  best." 

"  Yet  you  never  touch  this  sort  of  drink  your 
self,"  Immelan  observed  curiously. 

The  Prince  shook  his  head. 

"  Sometimes  I  take  wine,"  he  said.  "  That  is  gen 
erally  at  night.  A  few  evenings  ago,  for  instance," 
he  went  on,  with  a  reminiscent  smile,  "  I  drank 
Chateau  Yquem,  smoked  Egyptian  cigarettes,  ate 
some  muscatel  grapes,  and  read  '  Pippa  Passes.* 
That  was  one  of  my  banquets." 

"  As  a  matter  of  fact,"  Immelan  remarked 
thoughtfully,  "  you  are  far  more  western  in  thought 
than  in  habit.  The  temperance  of  the  East  is  in 
your  blood." 

"  I  find  that  my  manner  of  life  keeps  the  brain 
clear,"  Prince  Shan  said  slowly.  "  I  can  see  the 
truth  sometimes  when  it  is  not  very  apparent.  I 
saw  the  truth  last  night,  Immelan,  when  I  sent  Sen 
Lu  to  die." 

Immelan's  expression  was  indescribable.  He  sat 
with  his  mouth  wide  open.  The  hand  which  held  his 
glass  shook.  He  stared  across  the  bowl  of  lilies  to 
where  his  host  was  looking  up  through  the  smoke 
towards  the  ceiling. 

"  Sen  Lu  was  a  traitor,"  the  latter  went  on,  "  a 
ver}'  foolish  man  who  with  one  act  of  treachery  wiped 


228  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

out  the  memory  of  a  lifetime  of  devotion.  In  the 
end  he  told  the  truth,  and  now  he  has  paid  his  debt." 

"What  do  you  mean?  n  Immelan  demanded,  in  a 
voice  which  he  attempted  in  vain  to  control.  "  How 
was  Sen  Lu  a  traitor?  " 

"  Sen  Lu,'*  the  Prince  explained,  "  was  in  the  pay 
of  those  who  sought  to  know  more  of  my  business 
than  I  chose  to  tell  —  who  sought,  indeed,  to  antici 
pate  my  own  judgment.  When  they  gathered  from 
him,  and,  alas !  from  my  sweet  but  frail  little  friend 
Nita,  that  the  chances  were  against  my  signing  a 
certain  covenant,  they  came  to  what,  even  now,  seems 
to  me  a  strange  decision.  They  decided  that  I  must 
die.  There  I  fail  wholly  to  follow  the  workings  of 
your  mind,  Immelan.  How  was  my  death  likely  to 
serve  your  purpose  ?  " 

Immelan  was  absolutely  speechless.  Three  times 
he  opened  his  lips,  only  to  close  them  again.  Some 
instinct  seemed  to  tell  him  that  his  companion  had 
more  to  say.  He  sat  there  as  though  mesmerised. 
Meanwhile,  the  Prince  lit  another  cigarette. 

"  A  blunder,  believe  me,  Immelan,"  he  continued 
thoughtfully.  "  Death  will  not  lower  over  my  path 
till  my  task  is  accomplished.  I  am  young  —  many 
years  younger  than  you,  Immelan  —  and  the  greatest 
physicians  marvel  at  my  strength.  Against  the 
assassin's  knife  or  bullet  I  am  secure.  You  have  been 
brought  up  and  lived,  my  terrified  friend,  in  a  coun 
try  where  religion  remains  a  shell  and  a  husk,  with- 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN          229 

out  comfort  to  any  man.  It  is  not  so  with  me.  I 
live  in  the  spirit  as  in  the  body,  and  my  days  will 
last  until  the  sun  leans  down  and  lights  me  to  the 
world  where  those  dwell  who  have  fulfilled  their 
destiny." 

Immelan  drained  the  contents  of  the  glass  which 
his  unsteady  hand  was  holding.  Then  he  rose  to 
his  feet.  The  veins  on  his  forehead  were  standing 
out,  his  blue  eyes  were  filled  with  rage. 

"  Blast  Sen  Lu !  "  he  muttered.  "  The  man  was  a 
double  traitor ! " 

"  He  has  atoned,"  his  companion  said  calmly. 
"  He  made  his  peace  and  he  went  to  his  death.  It 
seems  very  fitting  that  he  should  have  received  the 
dagger  which  was  meant  for  my  heart.  Now  what 
about  you,  Oscar  Immelan?  " 

Immelan  laughed  harshly. 

<;  If  Sen  Lu  told  you  that  I  was  in  this  plot 
against  your  life,  he  lied !  " 

The  Prince  inclined  his  head  urbanely. 

"  Such  a  man  as  Sen  Lu  goes  seldom  to  his  death 
with  a  lie  upon  his  lips,"  he  said.  "  Yet  I  confess 
that  I  am  puzzled.  Why  should  you  plan  this  thing, 
Immelan  ?  You  cannot  know  what  is  in  my  mind  con 
cerning  your  covenant.  I  have  not  yet  refused  to 
sign  it." 

"  You  have  not  refused  to  sign  it,"  Immelan  re 
plied,  "  but  you  will  refuse." 

"  Indeed?  "  the  Prince  murmured. 


230  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

"  You  are  even  now  trifling  with  the  secrets  con 
fided  to  you,"  Immelan  went  on.  "  You  know  very 
well  that  the  woman  who  came  to  you  last  night  is 
a  spy  whose  whole  time  is  spent  in  seeking  to  worm 
our  secret  from  you." 

"  Your  agents  keep  themselves  well  informed,"  was 
the  calm  comment. 

"  Yours  still  have  the  advantage  of  us,"  Immelan 
answered  bitterly.  "  Now  listen  to  me.  I  have  heard 
it  said  of  you  —  I  have  heard  that  you  claim  your 
self  —  that  you  have  never  told  a  falsehood.  We 
have  been  allies.  Answer  me  this  question.  Have 
you  parted  with  any  of  our  secrets?  " 

"  Not  one,"  the  Prince  assured  him.  "  A  certain 
lady  visited  this  house  last  night,  not,  as  you  seem 
to  think,  at  my  invitation,  but  on  her  own  initiative. 
She  was  not  successful  in  her  quest." 

"  She  would  not  pay  the  price,  eh?  "  Immelan 
sneered.  "  By  the  gods  of  your  ancestors,  Prince 
Shan,  are  there  not  women  enough  in  the  world  for 
you  without  bartering  your  honour,  and  the  great 
future  of  your  country,  for  a  blue-eyed  jade  of  an 
Englishwoman  ?  " 

The  Prince  sat  slowly  up.  His  appearance  was 
ominous.  His  face  had  become  set  as  marble;  there 
was  a  look  in  his  eyes  like  the  flashing  of  a  light  upon 
black  metal.  He  contemplated  his  visitor  across  the 
lilies. 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  231 

"  A  man  so  near  to  death,  Immelan,"  he  enjoined, 
"  might  choose  his  words  more  carefully." 

Immelan  laughed  scornfully. 

"  I  am  not  to  be  bullied,"  he  declared.  "  Your 
doors  with  their  patent  locks  have  no  fears  for  me. 
When  you  walk  abroad,  you  are  followed  by  mem 
bers  of  your  household.  When  you  come  to  my 
rooms,  they  attend  you.  I  am  not  a  prince,  but  I, 
too,  have  a  care  for  my  skin.  Three  of  my  secret 
service  men  never  let  me  out  of  their  sight.  They 
are  within  call  at  this  moment." 

His  host  smiled. 

"  This  is  very  interesting,"  he  said,  "  but  you 
should  know  me  better,  Immelan,  than  to  imagine 
that  mine  are  the  clumsy  methods  of  the  dagger  or 
the  bullet.  The  man  whom  I  will  to  die  —  drinks 
with  me." 

He  pointed  a  long  forefinger  at  the  empty  glass. 
Immelan  gazed  at  it,  and  the  sweat  stood  out  upon 
his  forehead. 

"  My  God !  "  he  muttered.  "  There  was  a  queer 
taste !  I  thought  that  it  was  aniseed !  " 

"  There  was  nothing  in  that  glass,"  the  Prince  de 
clared,  "  which  the  greatest  chemist  who  ever 
breathed  could  detect  as  poison,  yet  you  will  die,  my 
friend  Immelan,  without  any  doubt.  Shall  I  tell  you 
how?  Would  you  know  in  what  manner  the  pains 
will  come?  No?  But,  my  friend,  you  disappoint 
me!  You  showed  so  much  courage  an  hour  ago. 


232  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

Listen.    Feel  for  a  swelling  just  behind Ah!  " 

Immelan  was  already  across  the  room.  The  Prince 
touched  a  bell,  the  doors  were  opened.  Ghastly  pale, 
his  head  swimming,  the  tortured  man  dashed  out  into 
the  street.  The  Prince  leaned  back  amongst  his 
cushions,  untied  a  straw-fastened  packet  of  his  long 
cigarettes,  lit  one,  and  closed  his  eyes. 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

Nigel  was  just  arriving  at  Dorminster  House 
when  Maggie  returned  from  her  ride.  He  assisted 
her  to  dismount  and  entered  the  house  with  her. 

"  There  is  something  here  I  should  like  to  show 
you,  Maggie,"  he  said,  as  he  drew  a  dispatch  from 
his  pocket.  "  It  was  sent  round  to  me  half  an  hour 
ago  by  Chalmers,  from  the  American  Embassy." 

"  It's  about  Gilbert  Jesson !  "  Maggie  exclaimed, 
holding  out  her  hand  for  it. 

Nigel  nodded. 

"  There's  a  note  inside,  and  an  enclosure,"  he  said. 
"  You  had  better  read  both." 

Maggie  opened  out  the  former: 

MY  DEAR  DORMINSTER, 

I  am  afraid  there  is  rather  bad  news  about 
Jesson.  One  of  our  regular  line  of  airships,  run 
ning  from  San  Francisco  to  Vladivostok,  has 
picked  up  a  wireless  which  must  have  come  from 
somewhere  in  the  South  of  China.  They  kept  it 
for  a  few  days,  worse  luck,  thinking  it  was  only 
nonsense,  as  it  was  in  code.  Washington  got  hold 
of  it,  however,  and  cabled  it  to  us  last  night.  I 
enclose  a  copy,  decoded. 

Sincerely  yours, 

JERE  CHALMERS. 


234  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

The  copy  was  brief  enough.  Maggie  felt  her 
heart  sink  as  she  glanced  through  the  few  lines : 

Report    dispatched    London.      Fear    escape    im 
possible.     Good-by.  JESSON. 

"  Horrible !  "  Maggie  exclaimed,  with  a  shiver. 
"  I  thought  he  was  in  Russia." 

"  So  did  we  all,"  Nigel  replied.  "  He  must  have 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  key  to  the  riddle 
he  was  trying  to  solve  was  in  China,  and  gone  on 
there.  Look  here,  Maggie,"  he  continued,  after  a 
moment's  hesitation,  "  do  you  think  anything  could 
be  done  for  Jesson  with  Prince  Shan?  " 

Maggie  was  silent.  They  were  standing  in  a 
shaded  corner  of  the  hall,  but  a  fleck  of  sunshine 
shone  in  her  hair.  She  was  still  a  little  out  of  breath 
with  the  exercise,  her  cheeks  full  of  healthy  colour, 
her  eyes  bright.  She  tapped  her  skirt  with  her  rid 
ing  whip.  Nigel  watched  her  a  little  uneasily. 

"  Prince  Shan  is  calling  here  this  afternoon," 
Maggie  announced.  "  I  hope  you  don't  mind." 

"What  are  you  going  to  say  to  him?"  Nigel 
asked  bluntly. 

There  was  a  short,  tense  silence.  Even  at  the 
thought  of  the  crisis  which  she  knew  to  be  so  close 
at  hand,  Maggie  felt  herself  unnerved  and  in  dubious 
straits. 

"  I  do  not  know,"  she  said  at  last.  "  For  one 
thing,  I  do  not  know  what  he  wants." 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  235 

"  What  he  wants  seems  perfectly  plain  to  me," 
Nigel  replied  gravely.  "  He  wants  you." 

Maggie  made  a  desperate  effort  to  regain  the 
lightheartedness  of  a  few  weeks  ago. 

"  If  you  believe  that,"  she  said,  "  your  composure 
is  most  unflattering." 

There  was  a  ring  at  the  front  doorbell,  and  a 
familiar  voice  was  heard  outside.  Maggie  turned 
away  to  the  staircase  with  a  little  sigh  of  relief. 

"  Naida !  "  she  exclaimed.  "  I  remember  now  I 
asked  her  for  a  quarter  past  one  instead  of  half-past. 
You  must  entertain  her,  Nigel.  I'll  change  into 
something  quickly.  And  of  course  I'll  speak  to 
Prince  Shan.  We  mustn't  lose  a  minute  about  that. 
I'll  telephone  from  my  room  in  a  few  minutes, 
Naida.  Nigel  will  look  after  you." 

Naida"  came  down  the  hall,  cool  and  exquisitely 
gowned  in  a  creation  of  shimmering  white.  Nigel 
led  her  into  the  rarely  used  drawing-room  and  found 
a  chair  for  her  between  the  open  window  and  the 
conservatory.  At  first  they  exchanged  but  few 
words.  The  sense  of  her  near  presence  affected  Nigel 
as  nothing  of  the  sort  had  ever  done  before.  She  for 
her  part  seemed  quite  content  with  a  silence  which 
had  in  it  many  of  the  essentials  of  eloquence. 

"  If  the  history  of  these  days  is  ever  written  by 
an  irascible  German  historian,"  Naida  remarked  at 
length,  "  he  will  probably  declare  that  the  destinies 
of  the  world  have  been  affected  during  this  last 


236          THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

month  by  an  outburst  of  primitivism.  Do  you  know 
that  I  have  written  quite  nice  things  to  Paul  about 
you  English  people?  Honest  things,  of  course,  but 
still  things  which  you  helped  me  to  discover.  And 
Prince  Shan,  too.  I  think  that  when  he  rode  here 
through  the  clouds,  he  believed  in  his  heart  that  he 
was  coming  as  a  harbinger  of  woe." 

"  You  really  think,  then,  that  the  crisis  is  past  ?  " 
Nigel  asked. 

She  nodded. 

"  I  am  almost  sure  of  it.  Prince  Shan  returns  to 
China  within  the  course  of  the  next  few  days." 

"  We  have  lived  so  long,"  Nigel  observed,  "  in 
dread  of  the  unknown.  I  wonder  whether  we  shall 
ever  understand  the  exact  nature  of  the  danger  with 
which  we  were  faced." 

"  It  depends  upon  Prince  Shan,"  she  replied. 
"  The  terms  were  Immelan's,  but  the  method  was 
his." 

"  Do  you  believe,"  he  asked  a  little  abruptly, 
"  that  the  attempt  on  Prince  Shan's  life  last  night 
was  made  by  Immelan  ?  " 

There  was  a  touch,  perhaps,  of  her  Muscovite  an 
cestry  in  the  cool  indifference  with  which  she  con 
sidered  the  matter. 

"  I  should  think  it  most  likely,"  she  decided. 
"  Prince  Shan  never  changes  his  mind,  and  I  believe 
that  he  has  decided  against  Immelan's  scheme. 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  237 

Immelan's  only  chance  would  be  in  Prince  Shan's 
successor." 

"  Why  is  China  so  necessary?  "  Nigel  asked. 

She  turned  and  smiled  at  her  companion. 

"  Alas  !  "  she  sighed,  "  we  have  reached  an  impasse. 
The  great  English  diplomat  asks  too  many  questions 
of  the  simple  Russian  girl." 

"  It  is  unfortunate,"  he  replied,  in  the  same  vein, 
"  because  I  feel  like  asking  more." 

"  As,  for  example?  " 

"  Whether  you  would  be  content  to  live  for  the 
rest  of  your  life  in  any  other  country  except  Russia." 

"  A  woman  is  content  to  live  anywhere,  under 
certain  circumstances,"  she  murmured. 

Karschoff,  discreetly  announced,  entered  the  room 
with  flamboyant  ease. 

"  It  is  well  to  be  young !  "  he  exclaimed,  as  he 
bent  over  Naida's  fingers.  "  You  look,  my  far-away 
but  much  beloved  cousin,  as  though  you  had  slept 
peacefully  through  the  night  and  spent  the  morning 
in  this  soft,  sunlit  air,  with  perhaps,  if  one  might 
suggest  such  a  thing,  an  hour  at  a  Bond  Street 
beauty  parlour.  Here  am  I  with  crow's-feet  under 
my  eyes  and  ghosts  walking  by  my  side.  Yet  none 
the  less,"  he  added,  as  the  door  opened  and  Maggie 
appeared,  "  looking  forward  to  my  luncheon  and  to 
hear  all  the  news." 

"  There  is  no  news,"  Naida  declared,  as  the  butler 
announced  the  service  of  the  meal.  "  We  have 


238  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

reached  the  far  end  of  the  ways.  The  next  dis 
closures,  if  ever  they  are  made,  will  come  from  others. 
At  luncheon  we  are  going  to  talk  of  the  English 
country,  the  seaside,  the  meadows,  and  the  quiet 
places.  The  time  arrives  when  I  weary,  weary,  of 
the  brazen  ticking  of  the  clock  of  fate." 

"  I  shall  tell  you,"  Nigel  declared,  "  of  a  small 
country  house  I  have  in  Devonshire.  There  are 
rough  grounds  stretching  down  to  the  sea  and 
crawling  up  to  the  moors  behind.  My  grandfather 
built  it  when  he  was  Chancellor  of  England,  or  rather 
he  added  to  an  old  farmhouse.  He  called  it  the  House 
of  Peace.'* 

"  My  father  built  a  house  very  much  in  the  same 
spirit,"  Naida  told  them.  "  He  called  it  after  an 
old  Turkish  inscription,  engraven  on  the  front  of  a 
villa  in  Stamboul  — '  The  House  of  Thought  and 
Flowers/  " 

Maggie  smiled  across  the  table  approvingly. 

"  I  like  the  conversation,"  she  said.  "  Naida  and 
I  are,  after  all,  women  and  sentimentalists.  We 
claim  a  respite,  an  armistice  —  call  it  what  you  will. 
Prince  Karschoff,  won't  you  tell  me  of  the  most 
beautiful  house  you  ever  dwelt  in?  " 

"  Always  the  house  I  am  hoping  to  end  my  days 
in,"  he  answered.  "  But  let  me  tell  you  about  a 
villa  I  had  in  Cannes,  fifteen  years  ago.  People  used 
to  speak  of  it  as  one  of  the  world's  treasures." 

When  the  two  men  were  seated  alone  over  their 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  239 

coffee,  Nigel  passed  Chalmers'  note  and  the  enclosure 
across  to  his  companion. 

"  You  remember  I  told  you  about  Chalmers*  friend, 
Jesson,  the  secret  service  man  who  came  over  to  us?  " 
he  said.  "  Chalmers  has  just  sent  me  round  this." 

Karschoff  nodded  and  studied  the  message  through 
his  great  horn-rimmed  eyeglass. 

"  I  thought  that  he  was  going  to  Russia  for  you," 
he  said. 

"  So  he  did.     He  must  have  gone  on  from  there." 

"  And  the  message  comes  from  Southern  China," 
Prince  Karschoff  reflected. 

Nigel  was  deep  in  thought.  China,  Russia,  Ger 
many!  Prince  Shan  in  England,  negotiating  with 
Immelan !  And  behind,  sinister,  menacing,  mysteri 
ous  —  Japan ! 

"  Supposing,"  he  propounded  at  last,  "  there 
really  does  exist  a  secret  treaty  between  China  and 
Japan?  " 

"  If  there  is,"  Prince  Karschoff  observed,  "  one 
can  easily  understand  what  Immelan  has  been  at. 
Prince  Shan  can  command  the  whole  of  Asia.  I 
know  they  are  afraid  of  something  of  the  sort  in 
the  States.  An  American  who  was  in  the  club  yester 
day  told  us  they  had  spent  over  a  hundred  millions 
on  their  west  coast  fortifications  in  the  last  two 
years." 

"  One  can  understand,  too,  in  that  case,"  Nigel 
continued,  "  why  Japan  left  the  League  of  Nations. 


240  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

That  stunt  of  hers  about  being  outside  the  sphere 
of  possible  misunderstandings  never  sounded  honest." 

"  It  was  unfortunate,"  Prince  Karschoff  said, 
4t  that  America  was  dominated  for  those  few  months 
by  an  honest  but  impractical  idealist.  He  had  the 
germ  of  an  idea,  but  he  thrust  it  on  the  world  before 
even  his  own  country  was  ready  for  it.  In  time  the 
nations  would  certainly  have  elaborated  something 
more  workable." 

"  You  cannot  keep  a  full-blooded  man  from  clench 
ing  his  fist  if  he's  insulted,"  Nigel  pointed  out,  "  and 
nations  march  along  the  same  lines  as  individuals. 
Its  existence  has  never  for  a  single  moment  weakened 
Germany's  hatred  of  England,  and  the  stronger  she 
grows,  the  more  she  flaunts  its  conditions.  France 
guards  her  frontiers,  night  and  day,  with  an  army 
ten  times  larger  than  she  is  allowed.  Russia  has 
become  the  country  of  mysteries,  with  something  up 
her  sleeve,  beyond  a  doubt,  and  there  are  cities  in 
modern  China  into  which  no  European  dare  pene 
trate.  Japan  quite  frankly  maintains  an  immense 
army,  the  United  States  is  silently  following  suit 
—  and  God  help  us  all  if  a  war  does  come !  " 

"  You  are  right,"  Karschoff  assented  gloomily. 
"  The  last  glamour  of  romance  has  gone  from  fight 
ing.  There  were  remnants  of  it  in  the  last  war, 
especially  in  Palestine  and  Egypt  and  when  we  first 
overran  Austria.  To-day,  science  would  settle  the 
whole  affair.  The  war  would  be  won  in  the  labora- 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  241 

tory,  the  engine  room  and  the  workshop.  I  doubt 
whether  any  battleship  could  keep  afloat  for  a  week, 
and  as  to  the  fighting  in  the  air,  if  a  hundred  airships 
were  in  action,  I  do  not  suppose  that  one  of  them 
would  escape.  Then  they  say  that  France  has  a  gun 
which  could  carry  a  shell  from  Amiens  to  London, 
and  more  mysterious  than  all,  China  has  something 
up  her  sleeve  which  no  one  has  even  a  glimmering  of." 

"  Except  Jesson,"  Nigel  muttered. 

"  And  Jesson's  gleam  of  knowledge,  or  suspicion," 
Prince  Karschoff  remarked,  "  seems  to  have  brought 
him  to  the  end  of  his  days.  Can  anything  be  done 
with  Prince  Shan  about  him,  do  you  think?  " 

"  Only  indirectly,  I  am  afraid/'  Nigel  replied. 
"  Maggie  is  seeing  him  this  afternoon.  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  I  believe  she  telephoned  to  him  before 
luncheon,  but  I  haven't  heard  anything  yet.  When 
a  man  goes  out  on  that  sort  of  a  job,  he  burns  his 
boats.  And  Jesson  isn't  the  first  who  has  turned 
eastwards,  during  the  last  few  months.  I  heard 
only  yesterday  that  France  has  lost  three  of  her 
best  men  in  China  —  one  who  went  as  a  missionary 
and  two  as  merchants.  They've  just  disappeared 
without  a  word  of  explanation." 

The  telephone  extension  bell  rang.  Nigel  walked 
over  to  the  sideboard  and  took  down  the  receiver. 

"  Is  that  Lord  Dorminster?  "  a  man's  voice  asked. 

"  Speaking,"  Nigel  replied. 

"  I  am  David  Franklin,  private  secretary  to  Mr. 


242  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

Mervin  Brown,"  the  voice  continued.  "  Mr.  Mervin 
Brown  would  be  exceedingly  obliged  if  you  would 
come  round  to  Downing  Street  to  see  him  at  once." 

"  I  will  be  there  in  ten  minutes,"  Nigel  promised. 

He  laid  down  the  receiver  and  turned  to  Karschoff. 

"  The  Prime  Minister,"  he  explained. 

"  What  does  he  want  you  for?  " 

"  I  think,"  Nigel  replied,  "  that  the  trouble  cloud 
is  about  to  burst." 


CHAPTER  XXVII 

Mr.  Mervin  Brown  on  this  occasion  did  not  beat 
about  the  bush.  His  old  air  of  confident,  almost 
smug  self-satisfaction,  had  vanished.  He  received 
Nigel  with  a  new  deference  in  his  manner,  without 
any  further  sign  of  that  good-natured  tolerance  ac 
corded  by  a  busy  man  to  a  kindly  crank. 

"  Lord  Dorminster,"  he  began,  "  I  have  sent  for 
you  to  renew  a  conversation  we  had  some  little  time 
since.  I  will  be  quite  frank  with  you.  Certain 
circumstances  have  come  to  my  notice  which  lead  me 
to  believe  that  there  may  be  more  truth  in  some  of 
the  arguments  you  brought  forward  than  I  was  will 
ing  at  the  time  to  believe." 

"  I  must  confess  that  I  am  relieved  to  hear  you 
say  so,"  Nigel  replied.  "  All  the  information  which 
I  have  points  to  a  crisis  very  near  at  hand." 

The  Prime  Minister  leaned  a  little  across  the  table. 

"  The  immediate  reason  for  my  sending  for  you," 
he  explained,  "  is  this.  My  friend  the  American 
Ambassador  has  just  sent  me  a  copy  of  a  wireless 
dispatch  which  he  has  received  from  China  from  one 
of  their  former  agents.  The  report  seems  to  have 
been  sent  to  him  for  safety,  but  the  sender  of  it,  of 


244  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

whose  probity,  by  the  by,  the  American  Ambassador 
pledges  himself,  appears  to  have  been  sent  to  China 
by  you." 

"  Jesson !  "  Nigel  exclaimed.  "  I  have  heard  of 
this  already,  sir,  from  a  friend  in  the  American 
Embassy." 

"  The  dispatch,"  Mr.  Mervin  Brown  went  on,  "  is 
in  some  respects  a  little  vague,  but  it  is,  on  the  other 
hand,  I  frankly  admit,  disturbing.  It  gives  specific 
details  as  to  definite  military  preparations  on  the 
part  of  China  and  Russia,  associated,  presumably, 
with  a  third  Power  whose  name  you  will  forgive  my 
not  mentioning.  These  preparations  appear  to  have 
been  brought  almost  to  completion  in  the  strictest 
secrecy,  but  the  headquarters  of  the  whole  thing,  very 
much  to  my  surprise,  I  must  confess,  seems  to  be  in 
southern  China." 

"  In  that  case,"  Nigel  pointed  out,  "  if  you  will 
permit  me  to  make  a  suggestion,  sir,  you  have  a  very 
simple  course  open  to  you." 

"Well?" 

"  Send  for  Prince  Shan." 

"  Prince  Shan,"  the  Prime  Minister  replied,  with 
knitted  brows,  "  is  not  over  in  this  country  officially. 
He  has  begged  to  be  excused  from  accepting  or  re 
turning  any  diplomatic  courtesies." 

"  Nevertheless,"  Nigel  persisted,  "  I  should  send 
for  Prince  Shan.  If  it  had  not  been,"  he  went  on 
slowly,  "  for  the  complete  abolition  of  our  secret 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  245 

service  system,  you  would  probably  have  been 
informed  before  now  that  Prince  Shan  has  been  hav 
ing  continual  conferences  in  this  country  with  one 
of  the  most  dangerous  men  who  ever  set  foot  on  these 
shores  —  Oscar  Immelan." 

"  Immelan  has  no  official  position  in  this  country," 
the  Prime  Minister  objected. 

"  A  fact  which  makes  him  none  the  less  danger 
ous,"  Nigel  insisted.  "  He  is  one  of  those  free  lances 
of  diplomacy  who  have  sprung  up  during  the  last 
ten  or  fifteen  years,  the  product  of  that  spurious 
wave  of  altruism  which  is  responsible  for  the  League 
of  Nations.  Immelan  was  one  of  the  first  to  see  how 
his  country  might  benefit  by  the  new  regime.  It  is 
he  who  has  been  pulling  the  strings  in  Russia  and 
China,  and,  I  fear,  another  country." 

"  What  I  want  to  arrive  at,"  Mr.  Mervin  Brown 
said,  a  little  impatiently,  "  is  something  definite." 

"  Let  me  put  it  my  own  way,"  Nigel  begged.  "  A 
very  large  section  of  our  present-day  politicians  — 
you,  if  I  may  say  so,  amongst  them,  Mr.  Mervin 
Brown  —  have  believed  this  country  safe  against  any 
military  dangers,  because  of  the  connections  exist 
ing  between  your  unions  of  working  men  and  similar 
bodies  in  Germany.  This  is  a  great  fallacy  for  two 
reasons :  first  because  Germany  has  always  intended 
to  have  some  one  else  pull  the  chestnuts  out  of  the 
fire  for  her,  and  second  because  we  cannot  inter 
nationalise  labour.  English  and  German  workmen 


246  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

may  come  together  on  matters  affecting  their  craft 
and  the  conditions  of  their  labour,  but  at  heart  one 
remains  a  German  and  one  an  Englishman,  with  sep 
arate  interests  and  a  separate  outlook." 

"  Well,  at  the  end  of  it  all,"  Mr.  Mervin  Brown 
said,  "  the  bogey  is  war.  What  sort  of  a  war?  An 
invasion  of  England  is  just  as  impossible  to-day  as  it 
was  twenty  years  ago." 

Nigel  nodded. 

"  I  cannot  answer  your  question,"  he  admitted. 
"  I  was  looking  to  Jesson's  report  to  give  us  an  idea 
as  to  that." 

"  You  shall  see  it  to-morrow,"  Mr.  Mervin  Brown 
promised.  "  It  is  round  at  the  War  Office  at  the 
present  moment." 

"  Without  seeing  it,"  Nigel  went  on,  "  I  expect  I 
can  tell  you  one  startling  feature  of  its  contents. 
It  suggested,  did  it  not,  that  the  principal  movers 
against  us  would  be  Russian  and  China  and  —  a 
country  which  you  prefer  just  now  not  to  mention?" 

"  But  that  country  is  our  ally !  "  Mr.  Mervin 
Brown  exclaimed. 

Nigel  smiled  a  little  sadly. 

"  She  has  been,"  he  admitted.  "  Still,  if  you  had 
been  au  fait  with  diplomatic  history  thirty  years  ago, 
Mr.  Mervin  Brown,  you  would  know  that  she  was  on 
the  point  of  ending  her  alliance  with  us  and  establish 
ing  one  with  Germany.  It  was  only  owing  to  the 
genius  of  one  English  statesman  that  at  the  last 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  247 

moment  she  almost  reluctantly  renewed  her  alliance 
with  us.  She  is  in  the  same  state  of  doubt  concerning 
our  destiny  to-day.  She  has  seen  our  last  two  Gov 
ernments  forget  that  we  are  an  Imperial  Power  and 
endeavour  to  apply  the  principles  of  sheer  com 
mercialism  to  the  conduct  of  a  great  nation.  She 
may  have  opened  her  eyes  a  thousand  years  later 
than  we  did,  but  she  is  awake  enough  now  to  know 
that  this  will  not  do.  There  is  little  enough  of 
generosity  amongst  the  nations ;  none  amongst  the 
Orientals.  I  have  a  conviction  myself  that  there  is 
a  secret  alliance  between  China  and  this  other  Power, 
a  secret  and  quite  possibly  an  aggressive  alliance." 

Mr.  Mervin  Brown  sat  for  a  few  moments  deep  in 
thought.  Somehow  or  other  his  face  had  gained  in 
dignity  since  the  beginning  of  the  conversation.  The 
nervous  fear  in  his  eyes  had  been  replaced  by  a  look 
of  deep  and  solemn  anxiety. 

"  If  you  are  right,  Lord  Dorminster,"  he  pro 
nounced  presently,  "  the  world  has  rolled  backwards 
these  last  ten  years,  and  we  who  have  failed  to  mark 
its  retrogression  may  have  a  terrible  responsibility 
thrust  upon  us.'* 

"  Politically,  I  am  afraid  I  agree  with  you,"  Nigel 
replied.  "  Only  the  idealist,  and  the  prejudiced 
idealist,  can  ignore  the  primal  elements  in  human 
nature  and  believe  that  a  few  lofty  sentiments  can 
keep  the  nations  behind  their  frontiers.  War  is  a 
terrible  thing,  but  human  life  itself  is  a  terrible  thing. 


248  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

Its  principles  are  the  same,  and  force  will  never  be 
restrained  except  by  force.  If  the  League  of  Nations 
had  been  established  upon  a  firmer  and  less  selfish 
basis,  it  certainly  might  have  kept  the  peace  for 
another  thirty  or  forty  years.  As  it  is,  I  believe  that 
we  are  on  the  verge  of  a  serious  crisis." 

"  War  for  us  is  an  impossibility,'*  Mr.  Mervin 
Brown  declared  frankly,  "  simply  because  we  cannot 
fight.  Our  army  consists  of  policemen;  science  has 
defeated  the  battleship ;  and  practically  the  same 
conditions  exist  in  the  air." 

*'  You  sent  for  me,  I  presume,  to  ask  for  my  ad 
vice,"  Nigel  said.  "  At  any  rate,  let  me  offer  it.  I 
have  reason  to  believe  that  the  negotiations  between 
Prince  Shan  and  Oscar  Immelan  have  not  been  en 
tirely  successful.  Send  for  Prince  Shan  and  question 
him  in  a  friendly  fashion." 

"  Will  you  be  my  ambassador?  "  the  Prime  Min 
ister  asked. 

Nigel  hesitated  for  a  moment. 

"  If  you  wish  it,"  he  promised.  "  Prince  Shan  is 
in  some  respects  a  strangely  inaccessible  person,  but 
just  at  present  he  seems  well  disposed  towards  my 
household." 

"  Arrange,  if  you  can,"  Mr.  Mervin  Brown  begged, 
"  to  bring  him  here  to-morrow  morning.  I  will  try 
to  have  available  a  copy  of  the  dispatch  from  Jesson. 
It  refers  to  matters  which  I  trust  Prince  Shan  will 
be  able  to  explain." 


CHAPTER  XXIX 

The  great  house  in  Curzon  Street  awoke,  the  fol 
lowing  morning,  to  a  state  of  intense  activity.  Taxi- 
cabs  and  motor-cars  were  lined  along  the  street;  a 
stream  of  callers  came  and  went.  That  part  of  the 
establishment  of  which  little  was  seen  by  the  casual 
caller,  the  rooms  where  half  a  dozen  secretaries  con 
ducted  an  immense  correspondence,  presided  over  by 
Li  Wen,  was  working  overtime  at  full  pressure.  In 
his  reception  room,  Prince  Shan  saw  a  selected  few 
of  the  callers,  mostly  journalists  and  politicians,  to 
whom  Li  Wen  gave  the  entree.  One  visitor  even  this 
most  astute  of  secretaries  found  it  hard  to  place. 
He  took  the  card  in  to  his  master,  who  glanced  at 
it  thoughtfully. 

"  The  Earl  of  Dorminster,"  he  repeated.  "  I  will 
see  him." 

Nigel  found  himself  received  with  courtesy,  yet 
with  a  certain  aloofness.  Prince  Shan  rose  from  his 
favourite  chair  of  plain  black  oak  heaped  with  green 
silk  cushions  and  held  out  his  hand  a  little  tenta 
tively. 

"  You  are  very  kind  to  visit  me,  Lord  Dorminster," 
he  said.  "  I  trust  that  you  come  to  wish  me  for 
tune." 


262  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

"  That,"  Nigel  replied,  "  depends  upon  how  you 
choose  to  seek  it." 

"  I  am  answered,"  was  the  prompt  acknowledg 
ment.  "  One  thing  in  your  country  I  have  at  least 
learnt  to  appreciate,  and  that  is  your  love  of  can 
dour.  What  is  your  errand  with  me  to-day?  Have 
you  come  to  speak  to  me  as  an  ambassador  from 
your  cousin,  or  in  any  way  on  her  behalf  ?  " 

tl  My  business  has  nothing  to  do  with  Lady  Mag 
gie,"  Nigel  assured  him  gravely. 

Prince  Shan  held  out  his  hand. 

"  Stop,"  he  begged.  "  Do  not  explain  your  busi 
ness.  If  it  is  a  personal  request,  it  is  granted.  If, 
on  the  other  hand,  you  seek  my  advice  on  matters  of 
grave  importance,  it  is  yours.  Before  other  words 
are  spoken,  however,  I  myself  desire  to  address  you 
on  the  subject  of  Lady  Maggie  Trent." 

"  As  you  please,"  Nigel  answered. 

"  It  is  not  the  custom  of  my  country,  or  of  my 
life,"  Prince  Shan  continued,  "  to  covet  or  steal  the 
things  which  belong  to  another.  If  fate  has  made  me 
a  thief,  I  am  very  sorry.  I  have  proposed  to  Lady 
Maggie  that  she  accompany  me  back  to  China.  It 
is  my  great  desire  that  she  should  become  my  wife." 

Nigel  felt  himself  curiously  tongue-tied.  There 
was  something  in  the  other's  measured  speech,  so 
fateful,  so  assured,  that  it  seemed  almost  as  though 
he  were  speaking  of  pre-ordained  things.  Much  that 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN          263 

had  seemed  to  him  impossible  and  unnatural  in  such 
an  idea  disappeared  from  that  moment. 

"  You  tell  me  this,"  Nigel  began 

"  I  announce  it  to  you  as  the  head  of  the  family," 
Prince  Shan  interrupted. 

"  You  tell  it  to  me  also,"  Nigel  persisted,  "  be 
cause  you  have  heard  the  rumours  which  were  at  one 
time  very  prevalent  —  that  Lady  Maggie  and  I  were 
or  were  about  to  become  engaged  to  be  married." 

"  I  have  heard  such  a  rumour  only  very  indirect 
ly,"  Prince  Shan  confessed,  "  and  I  cannot  admit 
that  it  has  made  any  difference  in  my  attitude.  I 
think,  in  my  land  and  yours,  we  have  at  least  one  com 
mon  convention.  The  woman  who  touches  our  heart 
is  ours  if  we  may  win  her.  Love  is  unalterably  self 
ish.  One  must  fight  for  one's  own  hand.  And  for 
those  who  may  suffer  by  our  victory,  we  may  have 
pity  but  no  consideration." 

"Am  I  to  understand,"  Nigel  asked  bluntly, 
"  that  Lady  Maggie  has  consented  to  be  your  wife?  " 

"  Lady  Maggie  has  given  me  no  reply.  I  left  her 
alone  with  her  thoughts.  Every  hour  it  is  my  hope 
to  hear  from  her.  She  knows  that  I  leave  for  China 
early  to-morrow." 

"  So  at  the  present  moment  you  are  in  suspense." 

"  I  am  in  suspense,"  Prince  Shan  admitted,  "  and 
perhaps,"  he  went  on,  with  one  of  his  rare  smiles, 
"  it  occurred  to  me  that  it  would  be  in  one  sense  a 
relief  to  speak  to  a  fellow  man  of  the  hopes  and  fears 


264  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

that  are  in  my  heart.  You  are  the  one  person  to 
whom  I  could  speak,  Lord  Dorminster.  You  have 
not  wished  my  suit  well,  but  at  least  you  have  been 
clear-sighted.  I  think  it  has  never  occurred  to  you 
that  a  prince  of  China  might  venture  to  compete  with 
a  peer  of  England." 

"  On  the  contrary,"  Nigel  assented,  "  I  have  the 
greatest  admiration  for  the  few  living  descendants 
of  the  world's  oldest  aristocracy.  You  have  a  right 
to  enter  the  lists,  a  right  to  win  if  you  can." 

"  And  what  do  you  think  of  my  prospects,  if  I 
may  ask  such  a  delicate  question?  "  Prince  Shan 
enquired. 

"  I  cannot  estimate  them,"  Nigel  replied.  "  I 
only  know  that  Maggie  is  deeply  interested." 

"  I  think,"  his  companion  continued  softly,  "  that 
she  will  become  my  Princess.  You  have  never  visited 
China,  Lord  Dorminster,"  he  went  on,  "  so  you  have 
little  idea,  perhaps,  as  to  the  manner  of  our  lives. 
Some  day  I  will  hope  to  be  your  host,  so  until  then, 
as  I  may  not  speak  of  my  own  possessions,  may  I  go 
just  so  far  as  this?  Your  cousin  will  be  very  happy 
in  China.  This  is  a  great  country,  but  the  very  air 
you  breathe  is  cloyed  with  your  national  utilitarian 
ism.  Mine  is  a  country  of  beautiful  thoughts,  of 
beautiful  places,  of  quiet-living  and  sedate  people. 
I  can  give  your  cousin  every  luxury  of  which  the 
world  has  ever  dreamed,  wrapped  and  enshrined  in 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN          265 

beauty.  No  person  with  a  soul  could  be  unhappy  in 
the  places  where  she  will  dwell." 

"  You  are  at  least  confident,"  Nigel  remarked. 

"  It  is  because  I  am  convinced,"  was  the  calm  re 
joinder.  "  I  shall  take  your  cousin's  happiness  into 
my  keeping  without  one  shadow  of  misgiving.  The 
last  word,  however,  is  with  her.  It  remains  to  be 
seen  whether  her  courage  is  great  enough  to  induce 
her  to  face  such  a  complete  change  in  the  manner  of 
her  life." 

"  It  will  not  be  her  lack  of  courage  which  will  keep 
her  in  England,"  Nigel  declared. 

Prince  Shan  bowed,  with  a  graceful  little  gesture 
of  the  hands.  The  subject  was  finished. 

"  I  shall  now,  Lord  Dorminster,"  he  said,  "  take 
advantage  of  your  kindly  presence  here  to  speak  to 
you  on  a  very  personal  matter,  only  this  time  it  is 
you  who  are  the  central  figure,  and  I  who  am  the 
dummy." 

"  I  do  not  follow  you,"  Nigel  confessed,  with  a 
slight  frown. 

"  I  speak  in  tones  of  apology,"  Prince  Shan  went 
on,  "  but  you  must  remember  that  I  am  one  of  re 
flective  disposition.  Nature  has  endowed  me  with 
some  of  the  gifts  of  my  great  ancestors,  philosophers 
famed  the  world  over.  It  seems  very  clear  to  me  that, 
if  I  had  not  come,  from  sheer  force  of  affectionate 
propinquity  you  would  have  married  Lady  Maggie.'* 

Nigel's  frown  deepened. 


266  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

"  Prince  Shan !  "  he  began. 

Again  the  outstretched  hand  seemed  as  though  the 
fingers  were  pressed  against  his  mouth.  He  broke  off 
abruptly  in  his  protest. 

"  You  would  have  lived  a  contented  life,  because 
that  is  your  province,"  his  companion  continued. 
"  You  would  have  felt  yourself  happy  because  you 
would  have  been  a  faithful  husband.  But  the  time 
would  have  come  when  you  would  both  have  realised 
that  you  had  missed  the  great  things." 

"  This  is  idle  prophecy,"  Nigel  observed,  a  little 
impatiently.  "  I  came  to  see  you  upon  another  mat 
ter." 

"  Humour  me,"  the  Prince  begged.  "  I  am  going 
to  speak  to  you  even  more  intimately.  I  shall  ven 
ture  to  do  so  because,  after  all,  she  is  better  known 
to  me  than  to  you.  I  am  going  to  tell  you  that  of 
all  the  women  in  the  world,  Naida  Karetsky  is  the 
most  likely  to  make  you  happy." 

Nigel  drew  himself  up  a  little  stiffly. 

"  One  does  not  discuss  these  things,"  he  muttered. 

"  May  I  call  that  a  touch  of  insularity?"  Prince 
Shan  pleaded,  "  because  there  is  nothing  else  in  the 
world  so  wonderful  to  discuss,  in  all  respect  and  rev 
erence,  as  the  women  who  have  made  us  feel.  One 
last  word,  Lord  Dorminster.  The  days  of  matri 
monial  alliances  between  the  reigning  families  of 
Europe  have  come  to  an  end  under  the  influence  of 
a  different  form  of  government,  but  there  is  a  certain 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  267 

type  of  alliance,  the  utility  of  which  remains  unim 
paired.  I  venture  to  say  that  you  could  not  do  your 
country  a  greater  service,  apart  from  any  personal 
feelings  you  might  have,  than  by  marrying  Made 
moiselle  Karetsky.  There,  you  see,  now  I  have  fin 
ished.  This  is  for  your  reflection,  Lord  Dorminster 
—  just  the  measured  statement  of  one  who  wears  at 
least  the  cloak  of  philosophy  by  inheritance.  Time 
passes.  Your  own  reason  for  coming  to  see  me  has 
not  yet  been  expounded.'* 

"  I  have  come  to  ask  you  to  visit  the  Prime  Min 
ister  before  you  leave  England,"  Nigel  announced. 

Prince  Shan  changed  his  position  slightly.  His 
forehead  was  a  little  wrinkled.  He  was  silent  for  a 
moment. 

"  If  I  pay  more  than  a  farewell  visit  of  ceremony," 
he  said,  "  that  is  to  say,  if  I  speak  with  Mr.  Mervin 
Brown  on  things  that  count,  I  must  anticipate  a  cer 
tain  decision  at  which  I  have  not  yet  wholly  arrived." 

Nigel  had  a  sudden  inspiration. 

"  You  are  seeking  to  bribe  Maggie !  "  he  exclaimed. 

"  That  is  not  true,"  was  the  dignified  reply. 

"  Then  please  explain,"  Nigel  persisted. 

Prince  Shan  rose  to  his  feet.  He  walked  to  the 
heavy  silk  curtains  which  led  into  his  own  bedcham 
ber,  pushed  them  apart,  and  looked  for  a  moment 
at  the  familiar  objects  in  the  room.  Then  he  came 
back,  glancing  on  his  way  at  the  ebony  cabinet. 

"  One  does   not  repeat  one's  mistakes,"  he  said 


268  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

slowly,  "  and  although  you  and  I,  Lord  Dorminster, 
breathe  the  common  air  of  the  greater  world,  my 
instinct  tells  me  that  of  certain  things  which  have 
passed  between  your  cousin  and  myself  it  is  better 
that  no  mention  ever  be  made.  I  wish  to  tell  you 
this,  however.  There  is  in  existence  a  document,  my 
signature  to  which  would,  without  a  doubt,  have  a 
serious  influence  upon  the  destinies  of  this  country. 
That  document,  unsigned,  would  be  one  of  my  mar 
riage  gifts  to  Lady  Maggie  —  and  as  you  know  I 
have  not  yet  had  her  answer.  However,  if  you  wish 
it,  I  will  go  to  the  Prime  Minister." 

Li  Wen  came  silently  in.  He  spoke  to  his  master 
for  a  few  minutes  in  Chinese.  A  faint  smile  parted 
the  latter's  lips. 

"  You  can  tell  the  person  at  the  telephone  that  I 
will  call  within  the  next  few  minutes,"  he  directed. 
"  You  will  not  object,"  he  added,  turning  courteous 
ly  to  Nigel,  "  if  I  stop  for  a  moment,  on  the  way 
to  Downing  Street,  at  a  small  private  hospital?  An 
acquaintance  of  mine  lies  sick  there  and  desires  urg 
ently  to  see  me." 

"  I  am  entirely  at  your  service,"  Nigel  assured  him. 

Prince  Shan,  with  many  apologies,  left  Nigel  alone 
in  the  car  outside  a  tall,  grey  house  in  John  Street, 
and,  preceded  by  the  white-capped  nurse  who  had 
opened  the  door,  climbed  the  stairs  to  the  first  floor 
of  the  celebrated  nursing  home,  where,  after  a  mo 
ment's  delay,  he  was  shown  into  a  large  and  airy 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  269 

apartment.  Immelan  was  in  bed,  looking  very  ill 
indeed.  He  was  pale,  and  his  china-blue  eyes,  curi 
ously  protruding,  were  filled  with  an  expression  of 
haunting  fear.  A  puzzled  doctor  was  standing  by 
the  bedside.  A  nurse,  who  was  smoothing  the  bed 
clothes,  glanced  around  at  Prince  Shan's  entrance. 
The  invalid  started  convulsively,  and,  clutching  the 
pillows  with  his  right  hand,  turned  towards  his  visi 
tor. 

"  So  you've  come !  "  he  exclaimed.  "  Stay  where 
you  are !  Don't  go !  Doctor  —  nurse  —  leave  us 
alone  for  a  moment." 

The  nurse  went  at  once.     The  doctor  hesitated. 

"  My  patient  is  a  good  deal  exhausted,"  he  said. 
"  There  are  no  dangerous  symptoms  at  present, 
but " 

"  I  will  promise  not  to  distress  him,"  Prince  Shan 
interrupted.  "  I  am  myself  somewhat  pressed  for 
time,  and  it  is  probable  that  your  patient  will  in 
sist  upon  speaking  to  me  in  private." 

The  doctor  followed  the  nurse  from  the  room. 
Prince  Shan  stood  looking  down  upon  the  figure  of 
his  quondam  associate.  There  was  a  leaven  of  mild 
wonder  in  his  clear  eyes,  a  faintly  contemptuous 
smile  about  the  corners  of  his  lips. 

"  So  you  are  afraid  of  death,  my  friend,"  he  ob 
served,  "  afraid  of  the  death  you  planned  so  skil 
fully  for  me." 

"  It  is  a  lie !  "  Immelan  declared  excitedly.    "  Sen 


270          THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

Lu  was  never  killed  by  my  orders.  Listen!  You 
have  nothing  against  me.  My  death  can  do  you  no 
good.  It  is  you  who  have  been  at  fault.  You  — 
Prince  Shan  —  the  great  diplomatist  of  the  world  — 
are  gambling  away  your  future  and  the  future  of  a 
mighty  empire  for  a  woman's  sake.  You  have  treat 
ed  me  badly  enough.  Spare  my  life.  Call  in  the 
doctor  here  and  tell  him  what  to  do.  He  can  find 
nothing  in  my  system.  He  is  helpless." 

The  smile  upon  the  Prince's  lips  became  vaguer,  his 
expression  more  bland  and  indeterminate. 

"  My  dear  Immelan,"  he  murmured,  "  you  are 
without  doubt  delirious.  Compose  yourself,  I  beg.'* 

A  light  that  was  almost  tragic  shone  in  the  man's 
face.  He  sat  up  with  a  sudden  access  of  strength. 

"  For  the  love  of  God,  don't  torture  me ! "  he 
groaned.  "  The  pains  grow  worse,  hour  by  hour. 
If  I  die,  the  whole  world  shall  know  by  whose  hand." 

The  expression  on  Prince  Shan's  face  remained 
unchanged.  In  his  eyes,  however,  there  was  a  little 
glint  of  something  which  seemed  almost  like  fore 
knowledge. 

"  When  you  die,"  he  pronounced  calmly,  "  it  will 
be  by  your  own  hand  — not  mine." 

For  some  reason  or  other,  Immelan  accepted  these 
measured  words  of  prophecy  as  a  total  reprieve. 
The  relief  in  his  face  was  almost  piteous.  He  seized 
his  visitor's  hand  and  would  have  fawned  upon  it. 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN          271 

Prince  Shan  withdrew  himself  a  little  farther  from 
the  bed. 

"  Immelan,"  he  said,  "  during  my  stay  in  England 
I  have  studied  you  and  your  methods,  I  have  listened 
to  all  you  have  had  to  say  and  to  propose,  I  have 
weighed  the  advantages  and  the  disadvantages  of 
the  scheme  you  have  outlined  to  me,  and  I  only  ar 
rived  at  my  decision  after  the  most  serious  and  un 
biassed  reflection.  Your  scheme  itself  was  bold  and 
almost  splendid,  but,  as  you  yourself  well  know  at 
the  back  of  your  mind,  it  would  lay  the  seeds  of  a 
world  tumult.  I  have  studied  history,  Immelan,  per 
haps  a  little  more  deeply  than  you,  and  I  do  not 
believe  in  conquests.  For  the  restoration  to  China 
of  such  lands  as  belong  geographically  and  rightly  to 
the  Chinese  Empire,  I  have  my  own  plans.  You,  it 
seems  to  me,  would  make  a  cat's-paw  of  all  Asia  to 
gratify  your  hatred  of  England.'* 

"  A  cat's-paw !  "  Immelan  gasped.  "  Australia, 
New  Zealand  and  India  for  Japan,  new  lands  for  her 
teeming  population ;  Thibet  for  you,  all  Manchuria, 
and  the  control  of  the  Siberian  Railway !  " 

"  These  are  dazzling  propositions,"  Prince  Shan 
admitted,  "  and  yet  —  what  about  the  other  side  of 
the  Pacific?" 

"  America  would  be  powerless,"  Immelan  insisted. 

"  So  you  said  before,  in  1917,"  was  the  dry  re 
minder.  "  I  did  not  come  here,  however,  to  talk 
world  politics  with  you.  Those  things  for  the  mo- 


272  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

ment  are  finished.  I  came  in  answer  to  your  sum 
mons." 

Immelan  raised  himself  a  little  in  the  bed. 

"  You  meant  what  you  said  ?  "  he  demanded,  with 
hoarse  anxiety.  "  There  was  no  poison  ?  Swear 
that?  " 

Prince  Shan  moved  towards  the  door.  His  back 
ward  glance  was  coldly  contemptuous. 

"  WKat  I  said,  I  meant,"  he  replied.  "  Extract 
such  comfort  from  it  as  you  may." 

He  left  the  room,  closing  the  door  softly  behind 
him.  Immelan  stared  after  him,  hollow-eyed  and 
anxious.  Already  the  cold  fears  were  seizing  upon 
him  once  more. 

Prince  Shan  rejoined  Nigel,  and  the  two  men  drove 
off  to  Downing  Street.  The  former  was  silent  for 
the  first  few  minutes.  Then  he  turned  slightly 
towards  his  companion. 

"  The  man  Immelan  is  a  coward,"  he  declared. 
"  It  is  he  whom  I  have  just  visited." 

Nigel  shrugged  his  shoulders. 

"  So  many  men  are  brave  enough  in  a  fight,"  he 
remarked,  "  who  lose  their  nerve  on  a  sick  bed." 

"  Braver}^  in  battle,"  Prince  Shan  pronounced,  "  is 
the  lowest  form  of  courage.  The  blood  is  stirred  by 
the  excitement  of  slaughter  as  by  alcohol.  With 
Immelan  I  shall  have  no  more  dealings." 

"Speaking  politically  as  well  as  personally?" 
Nigel  enquired. 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN          273 

The  other  smiled. 

"  I  think  I  might  go  so  far  as  to  agree,"  he  ac 
quiesced,  "  but  in  a  sense,  there  are  conditions.  You 
shall  hear  what  they  are.  I  will  speak  before  you 
to  the  Prime  Minister.  See,  up  above  is  the  sign 
of  my  departure." 

Out  of  a  little  bank  of  white,  fleecy  clouds  which 
hung  down,  here  and  there,  from  the  blue  sky,  came 
the  Black  Dragon,  her  engines  purring  softly, 
her  movements  slow  and  graceful.  Both  men  watched 
her  for  a  moment  in  silence. 

"  At  six  o'clock  to-morrow  morning  I  start," 
Prince  Shan  announced.  "  My  pilot  tells  me  that 
the  weather  conditions  are  wonderful,  all  the  way 
from  here  to  Pekin.  We  shall  be  there  on  Wednes- 
day." 

"  You  travel  alone  ?  "  Nigel  enquired. 

"  I  have  passengers,"  was  the  quiet  reply.  "  I 
am  taking  the  English  chaplain  to  your  Church  in 
Pekin." 

The  eyes  of  the  two  men  met. 

"  It  is  an  ingenious  idea,"  Nigel  admitted  dryly. 

"  I  wish  to  be  prepared,"  his  companion  answered. 
"  It  may  be  that  he  is  my  only  companion.  In  that 
case,  I  go  back  to  a  life  lonelier  than  I  have  ever 
dreamed  of.  It  is  on  the  knees  of  the  gods.  So  far 
there  has  come  no  word,  but  although  I  am  not  by 
nature  an  optimist,  my  superstitions  are  on  my  side. 
All  the  way  over  on  my  last  voyage,  when  I  lay  in 


274  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

my  berth  awake  and  we  sailed  over  and  through  the 
clouds,  my  star,  my  own  particular  star,  seemed 
leaning  always  down  towards  me,  and  for  that  reason 
I  have  faith." 

Nigel  glanced  at  his  companion  curiously  but  with 
out  speech.  The  car  pulled  up  in  Downing  Street. 
The  two  men  descended  and  found  everything  made 
easy  for  them.  In  two  minutes  they  were  in  the 
presence  of  the  Prime  Minister. 


CHAPTER  XXX 

Mr.  Mervin  Brown  was  at  his  best  in  the  interview 
to  which  he  had,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  been  looking 
forward  with  much  trepidation.  He  received  Prince 
Shan  courteouslj  and  reproached  him  for  not  having 
paid  him  an  earlier  visit.  To  the  latter's  request 
that  Nigel  might  be  permitted  to  be  present  at  the 
discussion,  he  promptly  acquiesced. 

"  Lord  Dorminster  and  I  have  already  had  some 
conversation,"  he  said,  "  bearing  upon  the  matter 
about  which  I  desire  to  talk  to  you." 

"  I  have  found  his  lordship,"  Prince  Shan  de 
clared,  "  one  of  the  few  Englishmen  who  has  any 
real  apprehension  of  the  trend  of  events  outside  his 
own  country." 

The  Prime  Minister  plunged  at  once  into  the  mid 
dle  of  things. 

"  Our  national  faults  are  without  doubt  known  to 
you,  Prince  Shan,"  he  said.  "  They  include,  amongst 
other  things,  an  over-confidence  in  the  promises  of 
others ;  too  great  belief,  I  fear,  in  the  probity  of  our 
friends.  We  paid  a  staggering  price  in  1914  for 
those  qualities.  Lord  Dorminster  would  have  me 
believe  that  there  is  a  still  more  terrible  price  for 
us  to  pay  in  the  future,  unless  we  change  our  whole 


276  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

outlook,  abandon  our  belief  in  the  League  of  Nations, 
and  once  more  acknowledge  the  supremacy  of  force." 

"  Lord  Dorminster  is  right,"  Prince  Shan  pro 
nounced.  "  I  have  come  here  to  tell  you  so,  Mr. 
Mervin  Brown." 

"  You  come  here  as  a  friend  of  England  ?  "  the 
latter  asked. 

"  I  come  here  as  one  who  hesitates  to  become  her 
enemy,"  was  the  measured  reply.  "  I  will  be  per 
fectly  frank  with  you,  sir.  I  came  to  this  country 
to  discuss  a  project  which,  with  the  acquiescence  of 
China  and  Japan,  would  have  resulted  in  the  humilia 
tion  of  your  country  and  the  gratification  of  Ger 
many's  eagerly  desired  revenge." 

"  You  believe  in  the  existence  of  that  sentiment, 
then?  "  the  Prime  Minister  enquired. 

"  Any  one  short  of  a  very  insular  Englishman," 
the  Prince  replied,  "  would  have  realised  it  long  ago. 
There  is  a  great  society  in  Germany,  scarcely  even  a 
secret  society,  pledged  to  wipe  out  the  humiliations 
of  the  last  great  war.  Lord  Dorminster  tells  me 
that  you  are  to-day  without  a  secret  service.  For 
that  reason  you  have  remained  in  ignorance  of  the 
mines  beneath  your  feet.  Germany  has  laid  her  plans 
well  and  carefully.  Her  first  and  greatest  weapon 
has  been  your  sense  of  security.  She  has  seen  you 
contemplate  with  an  ill-advised  smile  of  spurious  sat 
isfaction,  invincible  France,  regaining  her  wealth 
more  slowly  than  you  for  the  simple  reason  that  half 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN          277 

the  man  power  of  the  country  is  absorbed  by  her 
military  preparations.  France  is  impregnable.  A 
direct  invasion  of  your  country  is  in  all  probability 
impossible.  Those  two  facts  have  seemed  to  you  all- 
sufficient.  That  is  where  you  have  been,  if  I  may 
say  so,  sir,  very  short-sighted." 

"  Germany  has  no  power  to  transport  troops  in 
other  directions,"  Mr.  Mervin  Brown  observed. 

Prince  Shan  smiled. 

"  You  have  another  enemy  besides  Germany,"  he 
pointed  out,  "  a  great  democracy  who  has  never  for 
given  your  lack  of  sympathy  at  her  birth,  your  at 
tempts  to  repress  by  force  a  great  upheaval,  borne 
in  agony  and  shame,  yet  containing  the  germs  of 
worthy  things  which  your  statesmen  in  those  days 
failed  to  discern.  Russia  has  never  forgiven.  Rus 
sia  stands  hand  in  hand  with  Germany." 

"  But  surely,"  the  Prime  Minister  protested,  "  you 
speak  in  the  language  of  the  past?  The  League  of 
Nations  still  exists.  Any  directly  predatory  expedi 
tion  would  bring  the  rest  of  the  world  to  arms." 

Prince  Shan  shook  his  head. 

"  One  of  the  first  necessities  of  a  tribunal,"  he 
expounded,  "  is  that  that  tribunal  should  have  the 
power  to  punish.  You  yourself  are  one  of  the 
judges.  You  might  find  your  culprit  guilty.  With 
what  weapon  will  you  chastise  him  ?  The  culprit  has 
grown  mightier  than  the  judge." 

"  America " 


278          THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

"  America,"  Prince  Shan  interrupted,  "  can,  when 
she  chooses,  strike  a  weightier  blow  than  any  other 
nation  on  earth,  but  she  will  never  again  proceed 
outside  her  own  sphere  of  influence." 

"  But  she  must  protect  her  trade,"  the  Prime 
Minister  insisted. 

"  She  has  no  need  to  do  so  by  force  of  arms.  Take 
my  own  country,  for  instance.  We  need  American 
machinery,  American  goods,  locomotives  and  mining 
plants.  America  has  no  need  to  force  these  things 
upon  us.  We  are  as  anxious  to  buy  as  she  is  to  sell." 

"  I  am  to  figure  to  myself,  then,"  Mr.  Mervin 
Brown  reflected,  "  a  combination  of  Germany  and 
Russia  engaged  in  some  scheme  inimical  to  Great 
Britain?" 

"  There  was  such  a  scheme  definitely  arranged  and 
planned,"  Prince  Shan  assured  him  gravely.  "  If  I 
had  seen  well  to  sign  a  certain  paper,  you  would 
have  lost,  before  the  end  of  this  month,  India,  your 
great  treasure  house,  Australia  and  New  Zealand, 
and  eventually  Egypt.  You  would  have  been  as 
powerless  to  prevent  it  as  either  of  us  three  would 
be  if  called  upon  unarmed  to  face  the  champion 
heavyweight  boxer." 

"  It  is  hard  for  me  to  credit  the  fact  that  offi 
cially  Germany  has  any  knowledge  of  this  scheme," 
the  Prime  Minister  confessed. 

"  Official    Germany    would    probably    deny    it," 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN          279 

Prince  Shan  answered  dryly.  "  Official  Russia  might 
do  the  same.  Official  China  would  follow  suit,  but 
the  real  China,  in  my  person,  assures  you  of  the 
truth  of  what  I  have  told  you.  You  have  never 
heard,  I  suppose,  of  the  three  secret  cities  ?  " 

"  I  have  heard  stories  about  them  which  sounded 
like  fairy  tales,"  Mr.  Mervin  Brown  admitted  grudg 
ingly. 

"  Nevertheless,  they  exist,"  Prince  Shan  continued, 
"  and  they  exist  for  the  purpose  of  supplying  means 
of  offence  for  the  expedition  of  which  I  have  spoken. 
There  is  one  in  Germany,  one  in  Russia,  and  one  in 
China.  The  three  between  them  have  produced 
enough  armoured  airships  of  a  new  design  to  con 
quer  any  country  in  the  world." 

"  Armoured  airships  ?  "  Mr.  Mervin  Brown  re 
peated. 

"  Airships  from  which  one  fights  on  land  as  well 
as  in  the  air,"  Prince  Shan  explained.  "  On  land 
they  become  moving  fortresses.  No  shell  has  ever 
been  made  which  can  destroy  them.  I  should  be  re 
vealing  no  secret  to  you,  because  I  believe  I  am  right 
in  saying,  sir,  that  a  model  of  these  amazing  en 
gines  of  destruction  was  first  submitted  to  your  Gov 
ernment." 

"  I  remember  something  of  the  sort,"  the  Prime 
Minister  assented.  "  The  inventor  himself  was  an 
American,  I  believe," 


280          THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

"  Precisely !  I  believe  he  told  you  in  plain  words 
that  whoever  possessed  his  model  might,  if  they 
chose,  dominate  the  world." 

"  But  who  wants  to  dominate  the  world  by  force?  " 
Mr.  Mervin  Brown  demanded  passionately.  "  We 
have  passed  into  a  new  era,  an  era  of  peace  and  the 
higher  fellowship.  It  is  waste  of  time,  labour  and 
money  to  create  these  horrible  instruments  of  de 
struction.  The  League  of  Nations  has  decreed  that 
they  shall  not  be  built." 

"  Nevertheless,"  Prince  Shan  declared,  with  por 
tentous  gravity,  "  a  thousand  of  these  engines  of 
destruction  are  now  ready  in  a  certain  city  of  China. 
Each  one  of  the  three  secret  cities  has  done  its  quota 
of  work  in  the  shape  of  providing  parts.  China 
alone  has  put  them  together.  I  bought  the  secret, 
and  I  alone  possess  it.  It  rests  with  me  whether  the 
world  remains  at  peace  or  moves  on  to  war." 

"  You  cannot  hesitate,  then?  "  Mr.  Mervin  Brown 
exclaimed  anxiously.  "  You  yourself  are  an  apostle 
of  civilisation." 

Prince  Shan  smiled. 

"  It  is  because  we  are  strong,"  he  said,  "  that  we 
love  peace.  It  is  because  you  are  weak  that  you 
fear  war.  I  am  not  here  to  teach  you  statesmanship. 
It  is  not  for  me  to  point  out  to  you  the  means  by 
which  you  can  make  your  country  safe  and  keep  her 
people  free.  Call  a  meeting  of  what  remains  of  the 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN          281 

League  of  Nations  and  compare  your  strength  with 
that  of  the  nations  who  have  crept  outside  and  lie 
waiting.  Then  take  the  advice  of  experts  and  set 
your  house  in  order.  You  sacrifice  everything  to-day 
to  the  god  of  commerce.  Take  a  few  men  like  Dor- 
minster  here  into  your  councils.  You  are  not  a 
nation  of  fools.  Speak  the  truth  at  the  next  meet 
ing  of  the  League  of  Nations  and  see  that  it  is  prop 
erly  reported.  Help  yourselves,  and  I  will  help  you." 

"  Will  you  come  into  my  Cabinet,  Lord  Dormin- 
ster?  "  the  Prime  Minister  invited,  turning  to  Nigel. 

"  If  you  will  recreate  the  post  of  Minister  for 
War,  I  will  do  so  with  pleasure,"  was  the  prompt 
reply. 

Prince  Shan  held  out  his  hand. 

"  There  is  great  responsibility  upon  your  shoul 
ders,  Mr.  Mervin  Brown,"  he  said.  "  You  will  never 
know  how  near  you  have  been  to  disaster.  Try  and 
wake  up  your  nation  gradually,  if  you  can.  Call 
together  your  writers,  your  thinking  men,  your  his 
torians.  Encourage  the  flagging  spirit  of  patriot 
ism  in  your  public  schools  and  universities.  Is  this 
presumption  on  my  part  that  I  give  so  much  advice? 
If  so,  forgive  me.  Truth  that  sits  in  the  heart  will 
sometimes  demand  to  be  heard." 

At  the  Prime  Minister's  request,  Nigel  remained 
behind.  They  both  looked  at  the  door  through  which 
Prince  Shan  had  passed.  Mr.  Mervin  Brown  meta- 


282          THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

phorically  pinched  himself.  He  was  still  feeling  a 
little  dazed. 

"  Is  that  man  real  flesh  and  blood  ?  "  he  demanded. 

"  He  is  as  real  and  as  near  the  truth,"  Nigel  re 
plied  solemnly,  "  as  the  things  of  which  he  has  told 
us." 


CHAPTER  XXXI 

That  night,  Nigel  gave  a  dinner  party  on  Maggie's 
account  at  the  fashionable  London  hotel  of  the  mo 
ment.  Invitations  had  been  sent  out  by  telephone, 
by  hurried  notes,  in  one  or  two  cases  were  delivered 
by  word  of  mouth.  On  the  whole,  the  acceptances, 
considering  the  season  was  in  full  swing,  were  a  little 
remarkable.  Every  one  was  anxious  to  come,  be 
cause,  as  one  of  her  girl  friends  put  it,  no  one  ever 
knew  what  Maggie  was  going  to  be  up  to  next.  One 
of  the  few  refusals  came  from  Prince  Shan,  and  even 
he  made  use  of  compromise : 

My  dear  Lord  Dorminster,  will  you  forgive  me 
if  in  this  instance  I  do  not  break  a  custom  to  which 
I  have  perhaps  a  little  too  rigidly  adhered.  The 
Prime  Minister  telephoned,  a  few  minutes  after  we 
left  him,  asking  me  to  meet  two  of  his  colleagues 
from  the  Foreign  Office  to-night,  and  I  doubt 
whether  our  conference  will  have  concluded  at  the 
hour  you  name. 

However,  if  you  will  permit  me,  I  will  give 
myself  the  pleasure  of  joining  you  later  in  the 
evening,  to  make  my  adieux  to  those  of  my  friends 
whom  I  am  quite  sure  I  shall  find  amongst  your 
company. 

Sincerely  yours, 

SHAN. 


284          THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

Maggie  passed  the  note  back  with  a  little  smile. 
She  made  no  comment  whatever.  Nigel  watched  her 
thoughtfully. 

"  I  have  carried  out  your  orders,"  he  observed. 
"  Everything  has  been  attended  to,  even  to  the  colour 
of  your  table  decorations.  Now  tell  me  what  it  all 
means?  " 

She  looked  him  in  the  face  quite  frankly. 

"  How  can  I  ?  "  she  answered.  "  I  do  not  know 
myself." 

"  Is  this  by  way  of  being  a  farewell  party?  "  he 
persisted. 

"  I  do  not  know  that,"  she  assured  him.  "  The 
only  thing  is  that  if  I  do  decide  —  to  go  —  well,  I 
shall  have  had  a  last  glimpse  of  most  of  my  friends." 

"As  your  nearest  male  relative,  in  fact  your 
guardian,"  Nigel  went  on,  with  a  touch  of  his  old 
manner,  "  I  feel  myself  deeply  interested  in  your 
present  situation.  If  a  little  advice  from  one  who  is 
considerably  your  senior  would  be  acceptable " 

"  It  wouldn't,"  Maggie  interrupted  quietly. 
"  There  are  just  two  things  in  life  no  girl  accepts 
advice  upon  —  the  way  she  does  her  hair  and  the 
man  she  means  to  marry.  You  see,  both  are  decided 
by  instinct.  I  shall  know  before  dawn  to-morrow 
what  I  mean  to  do,  but  until  then  nothing  that  any 
body  could  say  would  make  any  difference.  Besides, 
your  mind  ought  to  be  full  of  your  own  matrimonial 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN          285 

affairs.  I  hear  that  Naida  is  talking  of  going  back 
to  Russia  next  week." 

"  My  own  affairs  are  less  complex,"  Nigel  replied. 
"  I  am  going  to  ask  Naida  to  marry  me  —  to-night 
if  I  have  the  opportunity." 

Maggie  made  a  little  grimace. 

"  There  goes  my  second  string !  "  she  exclaimed. 
"  Nigel,  you  are  horribly  callous.  I  have  never  been 
in  the  least  sure  that  I  haven't  wanted  to  marry  you 
myself." 

Nigel  lit  a  cigarette  and  pushed  the  box  across  to 
his  companion. 

"  I've  frequently  felt  the  same  way,"  he  confessed. 
"  The  trouble  of  it  is  that  when  the  really  right  per 
son  comes  along,  one  hasn't  any  doubt  about  it 
whatever.  I  should  have  made  you  a  stodgy  hus 
band,  Maggie." 

She  sniffed. 

"  I  think  that  considering  the  way  you've  flirted 
with  me,"  she  declared,  "  you  ought  at  least  to  have 
given  me  the  opportunity  of  refusing  you." 

"  If  Naida  refuses  me,"  he  began 

"  And  I  decide  that  Asia  is  too  far  away,"  she 
interrupted 

"  We  may  come  together,  after  all,"  he  said,  with 
a  resigned  little  sigh. 

"  Glib  tongue  and  empty  heart,"  she  quoted. 
"  Nigel,  I  would  never  trust  you.  I  believe  you're 
in  love  with  Naida." 


286          THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

"  And  I'm  not  quite  so  sure  about  you,"  he  ob 
served,  watching  the  colour  rise  quickly  in  her  cheeks. 
"  Off  with  you  to  dress,  young  woman.  It's  past 
seven,  and  we  must  be  there  early.  I  still  have  the 
wine  to  order." 

The  dinner  party  was  in  its  way  a  complete  suc 
cess.  Prince  Karschoff  was  there,  benign  and  dis 
tinguished;  Chalmers  and  one  or  two  other  young 
men  from  the  American  Embassy.  There  was  a 
sprinkling  of  Maggie's  girl  friends,  a  leaven  of  the 
older  world  in  Nigel's  few  intimates,  —  and  Naida, 
very  pale  but  more  beautiful  than  ever  in  a  white 
velvet  gown,  her  hair  brushed  straight  back,  and 
with  no  jewellery  save  one  long  rope  of  pearls.  Nigel 
who  in  his  capacity  as  host  had  found  little  time  for 
personal  conversation  during  the  service  of  dinner, 
deliberately  led  her  a  little  apart  when  they  passed 
out  into  the  lounge  for  coffee  and  to  watch  the 
dancing. 

"  My  duties  are  over  for  a  time,"  he  said.  "  Do 
you  realise  that  I  have  not  had  a  word  with  you  alone 
since  our  luncheon  at  Giro's  ?  " 

"  We  have  all  been  a  little  engrossed,  have  we 
not?  "  she  murmured.  "  I  hope  that  you  are  satis 
fied  with  the  way  things  have  turned  out." 

"  Nothing  shall  induce  me  to  talk  politics  or  em 
pire-saving  to-night,"  he  declared,  with  a  smile.  "  I 
have  other  things  to  say." 

"  Tell  me  why  you  asked  us  all  to  dine  so  sud- 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN          287 

denly,"  she  enquired.  "  I  do  not  know  whether  it 
is  my  fancy,  but  there  seems  to  be  an  air  of  cele 
bration  about.  Is  there  any  announcement  to  be 
made?  " 

He  shook  his  head. 

"  None.    The  party  was  just  a  whim  of  Maggie's." 

They  both  looked  across  towards  the  ballroom, 
where  she  was  dancing  with  Chalmers. 

"  Maggie  is  very  beautiful  to-night,"  Naida  said. 
"  I  could  scarcely  listen  to  my  neighbour's  conver 
sation  at  dinner  time  for  looking  at  her.  Yet  she 
has  the  air  all  the  time  of  living  in  a  dream,  as  though 
something  had  happened  which  had  lifted  her  right 
away  from  us  all.  I  began  to  wonder,"  she  added, 
"  whether,  after  all,  Oscar  Immelan  had  not  told  me 
the  truth,  and  whether  we  should  not  be  drinking  her 
health  and  yours  before  the  evening  was  over." 

"  You  could  scarcely  believe  that,"  he  whispered, 
"  if  you  have  any  memory  at  all." 

There  was  a  faint  touch  of  pink  in  her  cheeks,  a 
tinge  of  colour  as  delicate  as  the  passing  of  a  gleam 
of  sunshine  over  a  sea-glistening  shell. 

"  But  Englishmen  are  so  unfaithful,"  she  sighed. 

"  Then  I  at  least  am  an  exception,"  Nigel  an 
swered  swiftly.  "  The  words  which  you  checked  upon 
my  lips  the  last  time  we  were  alone  together  still 
live  in  my  heart.  I  think,  Naida,  the  time  has  come 
to  say  them." 


288          THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

Their  immediate  neighbours  had  deserted  them. 
He  leaned  a  little  towards  her. 

"  You  know  so  well  that  I  love  you,  Naida,"  he 
said.  "  Will  you  be  my  wife?  " 

She  looked  up  at  him,  half  laughing,  yet  with 
tears  in  her  eyes.  With  an  impulsive  little  gesture, 
she  caught  his  hand  in  hers  for  a  moment. 

"  How  horribly  sure  you  must  have  felt  of  me," 
she  complained,  "  to  have  spoken  here,  with  all  these 
people  around !  Supposing  I  had  told  you  that  my 
life's  work  lay  amongst  my  own  people,  or  that  I  had 
made  up  my  mind  to  marry  Oscar  Immelan,  to  con 
sole  him  for  his  great  disappointment." 

"  I  shouldn't  have  believed  you,"  he  answered, 
smiling. 

"  Conceit !  "  she  exclaimed. 

He  shook  his  head. 

"  In  a  sense,  of  course,  I  am  conceited,"  he  replied. 
"  I  am  the  happiest  and  proudest  man  here.  I  real 
ly  think  that  after  all  we  ought  to  turn  it  into  a 
celebration." 

The  band  was  playing  a  waltz.  Naida's  head 
moved  to  the  music,  and  presently  Nigel  rose  to  his 
feet  with  a  smile,  and  they  passed  into  the  ballroom. 
Karschoff  and  Mrs.  Bollington  Smith  watched  them 
with  interest. 

"  Naida  is  looking  very  wonderful  to-night,"  the 
latter  remarked.  "  And  Nigel,  too ;  I  wonder  if 
there  is  anything  between  them." 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN          289 

"  The  days  of  foreign  alliances  are  past,"  Kar- 
schoff  replied,  "  but  a  few  intermarriages  might  be 
very  good  for  this  country." 

"Are  you  serious?  "  she  asked. 

"  Absolutely !  I  would  not  suggest  anything  of 
the  sort  with  Germany,  but  with  this  new  Russia, 
the  Russia  of  which  Naida  Karetsky  is  a  daughter, 
why  not  ?  Although  they  will  not  have  me  back  there, 
Russia  is  some  day  going  to  lay  down  the  law  to 
Europe." 

"  I  wonder  whether  Maggie  has  any  ideas  of  the 
sort  in  her  mind,"  Mrs.  Bollington  Smith  observed. 
"  She  seems  curiously  abstracted  to-night." 

Chalmers  came  grumblingly  up  to  Mrs.  Bollington 
Smith,  with  whom  he  was  an  established  favourite. 

"  Lady  Maggie  is  treating  me  disgracefully,"  he 
complained.  "  She  will  scarcely  dance  at  all.  She 
goes  around  talking  to  every  one  as  though  it  were 
a  sort  of  farewell  party." 

"  Perhaps  it  may  be,"  Karschoff  remarked  quietly. 

"  She  isn't  going  away,  is  she?  "  Chalmers  de 
manded. 

"  Who  knows  ?  "  the  Prince  replied.  "  Lady  Mag 
gie  is  one  of  those  strange  people  to  whom  one  may 
look  with  every  confidence  for  the  unexpected." 

She  herself  came  across  to  them,  a  few  moments 
later. 

"  Something  tells  me,"  she  declared,  "  that  you  are 
talking  about  me." 


ago  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

"  You  are  always  a  very  much  discussed  young 
lady,**  Karschoff  rejoined,  with  a  little  bow. 

She  made  a  grimace  and  sank  into  a  chair  by  her 
aunt.  She  talked  on  lightly  enough,  but  all  the  time 
with  that  slight  suggestion  of  superficiality  which 
is  a  sign  of  strain.  She  glanced  often  towards  the 
entrance  of  the  lounge,  yet  no  one  seemed  less  dis 
turbed  when  at  a  few  minutes  before  eleven  Prince 
Shan  came  quietly  in.  He  made  his  way  at  once  to 
Mrs.  Bollington  Smith  and  bent  over  her  fingers. 

"  It  is  so  kind  of  you  and  Lord  Dorminster,"  he 
said,  "  to  give  me  this  opportunity  of  saying  good- 
by  to  a  few  friends." 

"You  are  leaving  us  so  soon,  Prince?  " 

"  To-morrow,  soon  after  dawn,"  he  replied,  his 
eyes  wandering  around  the  little  circle.  "  I  wish  to 
be  in  Pekin,  if  possible,  by  Wednesday,  so  my  Dragon 
must  spread  his  wings  indeed." 

He  said  a  few  words  to  almost  everybody.  Last 
of  all  he  came  to  Maggie,  and  no  one  heard  what 
he  said  to  her.  There  was  no  change  in  his  face  as 
he  bent  low  over  her  fingers,  no  sign  of  anything 
which  might  have  passed  between  them,  as  a  few  min 
utes  later  he  turned  to  one  side  with  Nigel.  Maggie 
held  out  her  hand  to  Chalmers.  The  strain  seemed 
to  have  passed.  Her  lips  were  parted  in  a  wonder 
ful  smile,  her  feet  moved  to  the  music. 

"  Come  and  dance,"  she  invited. 

They   moved   a   few   steps   away   together,  when 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  291 

Maggie  came  to  an  abrupt  standstill.  The  two 
stood  for  a  moment  as  though  transfixed,  their  eyes 
upon  the  arched  entrance  which  led  from  the  rest 
aurant  into  the  lounge.  A  man  was  standing  there, 
looking  around,  a  strange,  menacing  figure,  a  man 
dressed  in  the  garb  of  fashion  but  with  the  face  of  a 
savage,  with  eyes  which  burned  in  his  head  like  twin 
dots  of  fire,  with  drawn,  hollow  cheeks  and  mouth  a 
little  open  like  a  mad  dog's.  As  his  eyes  fell  upon 
the  group  and  he  recognised  them,  a  look  of  hor 
rible  satisfaction  came  into  his  face.  He  began  to 
approach  quite  deliberately.  He  seemed  to  take  in 
by  slow  degrees  every  one  who  stood  there,  —  Mag 
gie  herself  and  Chalmers,  Naida,  Nigel  and  Prince 
Shan.  He  moved  forward.  All  the  time  his  right 
hand  was  behind  him,  concealed  underneath  the  tails 
of  his  dress  coat. 

"  Be  careful !  "  Maggie  cried  out.  "  It  is  Oscar 
Immelan !  He  is  mad !  " 

Some  of  the  party  and  many  of  the  bystanders 
had  shrunk  away  from  the  menacing  figure.  Naida 
stepped  out  from  among  the  little  group  of  those 
who  were  left. 

"  Oscar,"  she  said  firmly,  "  what  is  the  matter  with 
you?  You  are  not  well  enough  to  be  here." 

He  came  to  a  standstill.  At  close  quarters  his 
appearance  was  even  more  terrible.  Although  by 
some  means  he  had  gotten  into  his  evening  clothes, 
he  was  only  partly  shaven,  and  there  were  gashes 


292  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

in  his  face  where  the  hand  which  had  held  his  razor 
had  slipped.  The  pupils  of  his  eyes  were  distended, 
and  the  eyes  themselves  seemed  to  have  shrunk  back 
into  their  sockets.  His  whole  frame  seemed  to  have 
suddenly  lost  vigour,  even  substance.  He  had  the  air 
of  a  man  in  clothes  too  large  for  him.  Even  his 
voice  was  shriller,  —  shriller  and  horrible  with  the 
slow  and  bestial  satisfaction  of  his  words. 

"  So  here  you  are,  the  whole  nest  of  you  together, 
eh  ?  "  he  exclaimed.  "  Good !  Very  good  indeed ! 
Prince  Shan,  the  poisoner!  Dorminster,  enjoying 
your  brief  triumph,  eh?  And  you.  Naida  Karetsky, 
traitress  to  your  country  —  deceiver " 

"  That  will  do,  Immelan,"  Nigel  interrupted  sharp 
ly.  "  We  are  all  here.  What  do  you  want  with  us  ?  " 

"  That  comes,"  Immelan  replied.  "  Soon  you  shall 
all  know  why  I  have  come!  Let  me  speak  to  my 
friend  Shan  for  a  moment.  I  carry  your  poison  in 
my  veins,  but  there  is  a  chance — just  a  chance," 
he  added  slowly,  with  a  horrible  smile  upon  his  lips, 
"  that  you  may  go  first,  after  all." 

Nigel  made  a  stealthy  but  rapid  movement  for 
ward,  drawing  Naida  gently  out  of  the  way.  Im 
melan  was  too  quick,  however.  He  swung  around, 
showing  the  revolver  which  he  had  been  concealing 
behind  him,  and  moved  to  one  side  until  his  back  was 
against  one  of  the  pillars.  By  this  time,  most  of 
the  other  occupants  of  the  ballroom  had  either  rushed 
screaming  away  altogether,  or  were  hiding,  peering 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  293- 

out  in  fascinated  horror  from  the  different  recesses. 
The  chief  maitre  d'hotel  bravely  held  his  ground  and 
came  to  within  a  few  paces  of  Immelan. 

"  We  can't  have  any  brawling  here,"  he  said. 
"  Put  that  revolver  away." 

Immelan  took  no  notice  of  the  intervener,  except 
that  for  a  single  moment  the  muzzle  yawned  in  the 
latter's  face.  The  maitre  d'hotel  was  a  brave  man, 
but  he  had  a  wife  and  family,  and  after  all,  it  was 
not  his  affair.  There  were  other  men  there  to  look 
after  the  ladies.  He  hurried  off  to  call  for  the 
police.  Almost  as  he  went,  Prince  Shan  stepped  into 
the  foreground.  His  voice  was  calm  and  expression 
less.  His  eyes,  in  which  there  shone  no  shadow  of 
fear,  were  steadily  fixed  upon  Immelan.  He  spoke 
without  flurry. 

"  So  you  carry  your  own  weapons  to-night,  Im 
melan,"  he  said.  "  That  at  least  is  more  like  a  man. 
You  seem  to  have  a  grievance  against  every  one. 
Start  with  me.  What  is  it?  " 

There  were  some  of  them  who  wondered  why,  at 
this  juncture  when  he  so  clearly  dominated  his  as 
sailant,  Prince  Shan,  whose  courage  was  superb  and 
whose  sang  froid  absolutely  unshaken  did  not  throw 
himself  upon  this  intruder  and  take  his  chance  of 
bringing  the  matter  to  an  end  at  the  moment  when 
the  man's  nerve  was  undoubtedly  shaken.  Then  they 
looked  towards  the  entrance,  and  they  understood. 
Creeping  towards  the  little  gathering  came  Li  Wen 


294  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

anH  another  of  the  Prince's  suite,  a  younger  and 
even  more  active  man.  The  two  came  on  tiptoe, 
crouching  and  moving  warily,  with  the  gleam  of  the 
tiger  in  their  anxious  eyes.  Maggie  caught  a  warn 
ing  glance  from  Nigel  and  looked  away. 

"  You  are  my  murderer !  "  Immelan  cried  hoarsely. 
"  It  is  through  you  I  suffer  these  pains  !  I  am  dying 
of  your  accursed  poison !  " 

"  If  that  were  true,"  Prince  Shan  replied,  with 
the  air  of  one  willing  to  discuss  the  subject  impar 
tially,  "  might  I  remind  you  of  Sen  Lu,  who  died  in 
my  box  at  the  Albert  Hall?  For  whom  was  that 
dagger  thrust  meant,  Immelan?  Not  for  the  man 
whom  you  had  bought  to  betray  me,  the  only  one 
of  my  suite  who  has  ever  been  tempted  with  gold. 
That  dagger  thrust  was  meant  for  me,  and  the  as 
sassin  was  one  of  your  creatures.  So  even  if  your 
words  were  true,  Immelan,  and  the  poison  which  you 
imagine  to  be  in  your  body  were  planted  there  by  me, 
are  we  less  than  quits?  " 

Immelan's  lie  was  unconvincing. 

"  I  know  nothing  of  Sen  Lu's  death,"  he  declared. 
"  I  employ  no  assassins.  When  there  is  killing  to  be 
done,  I  can  do  it  myself.  I  am  here  to-night  for  that 
purpose.  You  have  deserted  me  at  the  last  moment, 
Prince  Shan  —  played  me  and  my  country  false  for 
the  sake  of  the  English  woman  whom  you  think  to 
carry  back  with  you  to  China.  And  you,"  he  added, 
turning  with  a  sudden  furious  glance  at  Naida,  "  you 


THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN  295 

have  deceived  the  man  who  trusted  you,  the  man  who 
sent  you  here  for  one  purpose,  and  one  purpose  only. 
You  have  done  your  best  to  ruin  my  scheme.  Not 
only  that,  but  you  have  given  the  love  which  was 
mine  —  mine,  I  say  —  to  another  —  an  Englishman ! 
I  hate  you  all !  That  is  why  I,  a  dying  man,  have 
crawled  here  to  reap  my  little  harvest  of  vengeance. 
—  You,  Naida  —  you  shall  be  first " 

Naida  was  suddenly  swung  on  one  side,  and  the 
shot  which  rang  out  passed  through  Nigel's  coat 
sleeve,  grazing  his  wrist,  —  the  only  shot  that  was 
fired.  Prince  Shan,  watching  for  his  moment,  as  his 
two  attendants  threw  themselves  upon  the  madman 
from  behind,  himself  sprang  forward,  knocked  Imme- 
lan's  right  hand  up  with  a  terrible  blow,  and  sent 
the  revolver  crashing  to  the  ground.  It  was  a  mat 
ter  of  a  few  seconds.  Immelan,  when  he  felt  himself 
seized,  scarcely  struggled.  The  courage  of  his  mad 
ness  seemed  to  pass,  the  venom  died  out  of  his  face, 
he  shook  like  a  man  in  an  ague.  Prince  Shan  kicked 
the  revolver  on  one  side  and  looked  scornfully  down 
upon  him,  now  a  nerveless  wreck. 

"  Immelan,"  he  said,  "  it  is  a  pity  that  you  did  not 
wait  until  to-morrow  morning.  You  would  then  have 
known  the  truth.  You  are  no  more  poisoned  than  I 
am.  If  you  had  been  in  China  —  well,  who  knows? 
In  England  there  is  so  much  prejudice  against  the 
taking  of  a  worthless  life  that  as  a  guest  I  subscribed 


296  THE  GREAT  PRINCE  SHAN 

to  it  and  mixed  a  little  orris-root  tooth  powder  with 
your  vermouth." 

The  man's  eyes  suddenly  opened.  He  was  feverish 
ly,  frantically  anxious. 

"  Tell  me  that  again,"  he  shrieked.  "  You  mean 
it?  Swear  that  you  mean  it." 

Prince  Shan's  gesture  as  he  turned  away  was  one 
of  supreme  contempt. 

"  A  Shan,"  he  said,  "  never  needs  to  repeat." 

There  was  the  bustle  of  arriving  police,  the  story 
of  a  revolver  which  had  gone  off  by  accident,  a  very 
puzzling  contretemps  expounded  for  their  benefit. 
The  situation,  and  the  participants  in  it,  seemed  to 
dissolve  with  such  facility  that  it  was  hard  for  any 
one  to  understand  what  had  actually  happened. 
Prince  Shan,  with  Maggie  on  his  arm,  was  talking 
to  the  leader  of  the  orchestra,  who  had  suddenly  re 
appeared.  The  former  turned  to  his  companion. 

"  It  is  not  my  custom  to  dance,"  he  said,  "  but  the 
waltz  that  they  were  beginning  to  play  seemed  to  me 
to  have  a  little  of  the  lure  of  our  own  music.  Will 
you  do  me  the  honour?  " 

They  moved  away  to  the  music.  Chalmers  stood 
and  watched  them,  with  one  hand  in  his  pocket  and 
the  other  on  Nigel's  shoulder.  He  turned  to  Naida, 
who  was  on  the  other  side. 

"  Nothing  like  a  touch  of  melodrama  for  the  emo 
tions,"  he  grumbled.  "  Look  at  Lady  Maggie !  Her 


NOVELS  by  E.  PHILLIPS  OPPENHEIM 


"He  is  past  master  of  the  art  of  telling  a  story. 
He  has  humor,  a  keen  sense  of  the  dramatic,  and  a 
knack  of  turning  out  a  happy  ending  just  when  the 
complications  of  the  plot  threaten  worse  disasters." 
— New  York  Times. 

"Mr.  Oppenheim  has  few  equals  among  modern 
novelists.  He  is  prolific,  he  is  untiring  in  the  inven 
tion  of  mysterious  plots,  he  is  a  clever  weaver  of  the 
plausible  with  the  sensational,  and  he  has  the  neces 
sary  gift  of  facile  narrative." — Boston  Transcript. 


A  Prince  of  Sinners 

Mysterious  Mr.  Sabin 

A  Maker  of  History 

The  Malefactor 

A  Millionaire  of  Yesterday 

The  Man  and  His  Kingdom 

The  Yellow  Crayon 

A  Sleeping  Memory 

A  Lost  Leader 

The  Great  Secret 

The  Avenger 

The  Long  Arm  of  Mannister 

The  Governors 

Jeanne  of  the  Marshes 

The  Lost  Ambassador 

A  Daughter  of  the  Marionis 

Berenice 

Havoc 

The  Lighted  Way 


The  Survivor 

A  People's  Man 

The  Vanished  Messenger 

Mr.  Grex  of  Monte  Carlo 

The  Way  of  These  Women 

Mr.  Marx's  Secret 

The  Kingdom  of  the  Blind 

The  Hillman 

The  Pawns  Count 

The  Zeppelin's  Passenger 

The  Curious  Quest 

The  Wicked  Marquis 

The  Box  with  Broken  Seals 

The  Great  Impersonation 

The  Devil's  Paw 

Jacob's  Ladder 

The  Profiteers 

Nobody's  Man 

The  Great  Prince  Shan 


LITTLE,  BROWN  &  CO.,  Publishers,  BOSTON 


University  of  California 

SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 

405  Hilgard  Avenue,  Los  Angeles,  CA  90024-1388 

Return  this  material  to  the  library 

from  which  it  was  borrowed. 


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